Motormouth At It Again
By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2023-02-19 15:03:59
About the Author
What is
Sanjay Rout, prominent spokesperson of the Uddhav Thackeray group of the
ShivSena now claiming and how does it have any relation to the Election
Commission (EC) awarding the party name and the 'bow and arrow' symbol to the
Eknath Shinde group of the Shiv Sena?
Rout has
claimed that the BJP spent Rs 2000cr at the rate of Rs 50cr for each of the 40
MLAs who defected from the undivided Sena to join the Shinde camp. This amount,
he says, was spent to get the party name and the election symbol. He also said
that he had the proof of the same and he will disclose it in the next few days.
But it is
difficult to understand how paying Rs 50cr to each MLA (even if it is true)
will influence the EC decision. There is some disconnect between what Rout is
claiming and what he is trying to prove. If his claim of each MLA getting Rs
50cr to switch sides is the main story here, it is late by a few months. As this
claim, along with the proof, should have been made before Shinde and the BJP
formed the government.
If the
Shinde camp getting the party name and the symbol is the main story, then
linking it with the so-called 'payments' to the MLAs is for obvious reasons.
For, the EC has said that in the absence of any other conclusive test, it was
forced to award the party name and symbol to the Shinde group on the basis of "the
test of majority in the legislative wing".
The latest
claim of payments to the MLAs and linking it to the EC decision are a ploy by
Rout to discredit the test EC has applied for adjudication. Usually Sanjay Rout
is sharp and, like the Amul ads, topical and very fast with the fastest-fingers
first. But this timing his timing is awry. Rout and his party should follow the
advice of ally and senior leader Sharad Pawar to accept the EC decision and
move on.
