“The Pessimist Sees Difficulty In Every Opportunity. The Optimist Sees Opportunity In Every Difficulty.”

A rebut followed as expected. Pawar’s supporter Vidya Chavan said each  time Pawar goes to a temple, allegations are hurled at him. When he visited  the Hanuman temple in Baramati some time ago, similar attack ensured. Pawar frequently visits temples but never publicises his visits. His actions have always reflected respect for all religions she claimed. But Chavan did not lose the chance to poke at the BJP. According to her, Amit Shah caused inconvenience for other devotees at Lalbaug. Obviously, she was referring to the security arrangements in place at the time. However, Chavan chose not to mention the fact that Pawar, too, highly protected and the devotees are inconvenienced due to his visits as well.  But that is politics.

A week ago, Pawar’s nephew and now his arch political foe Ajit Pawar visited the Siddhivinayak temple in central Mumbai along with his band of supporters. He, too, was lampooned since in his long political career, Ajit seldom was seen in a temple. However, Pawar or Ajit had been regularly attending Iftaar parties but not criticised on that count. Strangely, as soon as there is a temple visit, the cacophony begins.

On top of that, almost all politicians have been maintaining that  Ganesh Festival is a matter of devotion, hence they don’t mix politics with it. Nonetheless, the occasion is fraught with political manoeuvrings, as seen day in and day out. In a way, it may be said that Lord Ganesh will leave his indelible stamp on the state’s political landscape.

In the past also, the Festival had political overtones. Speculations of political defections spurt in these ten days. For instance, then CM Devendra Fadnavis generated considerable debate when he visited the residence of former Congress minister Kripashankar Singh. Of course, Singh was firm on maintaining that there was no political agenda. But he eventually was found in the BJP  and has lost the recent Lok Sabhe election. Interestingly, after Fadnavis visited,  the next prominent visitor to Singh was  Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray. Apparently, nothing concrete emerged from the visit.

Later, these and other leaders declared, “This is our culture. We don’t mix personal relationship with politics. Moreover, the Ganesh Festival is above such considerations.” The key role in arranging the visit was played by Prasad Lad, a BJP MLC, who himself had left the NCP. Once again proving that Lord Ganesh is impartial and all parties propitiate Him to pursue their goals.

The Ganesh Chaturthi of 2017 was a game changer, too, for Fadnavis visited his bitter critic and Congress leader Narayan Rane’s house to bow before God. Within a couple of months, Rane had formed his own party, aligned it with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and was in the Rajya Sabha as a BJP nominee. Rane is presently the BJP’s Lok Sabha member from the Konkan.

Another case of entreating Lord Ganesh for political fallouts is that of former powerful BJP minister Eknath Khadse. After he was abandoned by the BJP, Khadse surrendered to veteran Sharad Pawar, who has made him a member of the legislative council. Unhappy there too, Khadse was eager to stage a homecoming. He called on Amit Shah and other leaders also. But all have spurned him so he is back with Pawar. Now that the Festival is underway, he has suddenly remembered the plight of the people. In his prayer to Lord Ganesh, he says, “The people of the state are suffering from various problems, and the current Mahayuti government has no time to address them. For the welfare of the people, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government should come into power in the future.”

However, Khadse is not alone. Leaders belonging to all political parties utilise festivals like Govinda, Ganpati, Navratri or Diwali to push their party and personal agendas. His is only a representative case.

In fact, many political careers take off at the Ganesh Festival. There are several political leaders in Maharashtra who earlier worked as ordinary swayamsevaks of Ganesh mandals before making a name in politics. The name that immediately comes to mind is that of NCP leader and senior minister Chhagan Bhujbal in Mumbai. From Pune, its former mayor and now a Union minister, Murlidhar Mohol began his political foray through his local mandal. There are many such leaders in every nook and corner of Maharashtra.

Another sidelight of the Festival is the almost identical appeal made by leaders of all parties to Lord Ganesh. In unison they urge Him, “Let there be ample rainfall, let the crops flourish, let the coming festive season be full of joy for all and let Maharashtra prosper.” As soon as they are out of the pandal and facing television cameras, they revert to their original role and begin using choice language to hit out at each other. But do not forget to ask Lord to “inject sense into my opponent.”