No end in sight to bizarre Abdul Rehman Antulay episode

"From Sunday of Calcutta to Matrubhumi of Cochin, they all came to finish one man: me. I want to tell them that I am going to stay."-A.R. Antulay, Maharashtra's chief minister.Antulay : Dispensing largesseThe survival in office of Maharashtra's Chief Minister Abdul Rehman Antulay has become something of a saga in itself. Antulay's deft manoeuvrings - which consisted of ingredients like secret parleys, slush money, political blackmail, and a massive publicity blitz - have ensured him a longer life and left his critics nonplussed. Whatever the weight of the indictment against him, there seems to be no end in sight to the bizarre Antulay episode.While Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is yet to choose the time of her choice to axe the recalcitrant chief minister, Antulay has regained much of the clout he had lost due to the unsavoury exposure of his trusts. Bolstered by the confusing and conflicting pronouncements of the senior party leaders including Mrs Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Antulay has succeeded in creating an impression that his removal is not an easy job. Declared Antulay at one of his public meetings recently. "I want to make it clear that I am going to complete the full term as the chief minister."Antulay's exuberance stems not from the support he enjoys at the top but from his enviable success in consolidating his control over the state's politics. To prove that he was firmly in saddle, Antulay made a whirlwind tour of the state covering over 4,000 kilometres, addressed over 20 meetings attended by over 10 lakh people. He distributed over five crore rupees for various develop schemes, created four more districts and three universities and two revenue divisions involving a recurring expenditure of Rs70 crore and sanctioned additional perks to the MLAs worth Rs 50 lakh annually making them the most affluent people's representatives in the country. Mrs Gandhi: My party's concernSays Madhu Deolker, Bombay Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) general secretary: "Our chief minister is set on a buying spree. He has managed to silence his critics by paying them off." Adds Promilla Dandavate, a Janata Party member from Bombay. "For once Mrs Gandhi's party has been trapped by one of her own surrogates. Antulay has become Colonel Gaddafi of the country."Dexterity: Antulay's success in the worst ever political storm faced by any chief minister lies in his dexterity in wooing his critics both in the ruling party and outside. And, like an experienced politician, Antulay has devoted most of his engery in winning over the support of the MLAs who invariably provide ammunition to the Central leadership for giving the sack. The chief minister has given his legislators a set of wide ranging privileges. Samples:Each MLA has been authorised to recommend two liquor shops in his assembly constituency. The premium for such a favour is Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000 for each shop. No other stale has given this power to its MLAs. Such decisions are usually taken on merit by the bureaucracy.Each MLA has been made chairman of the local cement distribution committee with a power to make out-of-turn allotment of over 500 bags of cement - the premium per bag, Rs 100 to Rs 130. Such a system of cement distribution does not exist elsewhere in the country.MLAs have been permitted to hire the services of private secretaries at the state Government's expense.They have been exempted from paying Rs 1.50 a day for a MLA hostel room in Bombay. And there is a possibility that some of them might even rent their rooms out.They are allowed the use of an official car or are given reimbursements of transport expenses incurred in connection with official business.They have also been authorised to re-commend names of people for the grant of loans and other financial help from the chief minister's fund. Sanjay Gandhi Swavalamban Yojna, Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojna.Antulay has granted minister of state status to over 60 people including MPs and MLAs which entitles them to an official car and an office.Alleges a dissident Congress(I) leader from Maharashtra: "Antulay is convinced that it is difficult to swallow the loot alone. Let others also have a share in the booty." Antulay has, in fact, become something of a spendthrift with government money. Whether in his weekly darbar - which he has resumed lately - or during his official tours he now carries cheque books with him and signs cheques on the spot while assuring government support for various causes. Rajiv Gandhi: MLAs to decideAdmits a finance official of the state Government: "We have to keep the bank accounts with sufficient entries on the credit side because there seems to be no end to the likely entries on the debit side." Over the last three months the chief minister, it is learnt, directly or indirectly released grants or loans worth over Rs 10 crore from the various government agencies.Favours: Antulay didn't stop at distributing favours to the MLAs and the 'poor' people. He used his official status and authority to please the important sections like judges, MPs and journalists, by alloting fiats. A piece of land was sanctioned for the cooperative society of High Court judges. He ordered the allotment of an industrial plot for a biscuit factory to one of the trust members of the Indira Gandhi Pratibha Pratishthan. Obviously, the uninhibited outflow of money was aimed at mustering support for himself in time of need. While some of MLAs were flown to New Delhi - tickets were bought for them by a restaurant owner of Bombay - the Congress(l) legislature party was only too happy to adopt a unanimous resolution expressing faith in Antulay's leadership soon after Rajiv Gandhi's statement last month that Antulay's fate could only be decided by the MLAs. Rajiv Gandhi, Antulay's critics allege, made this statement knowing full well that over 60 per cent of the MLAs are Antulay's nominees and that for the first time the Marathas are in the minority in the Maharashtra Congress(I) legislature party which 'elected' Antulay as its leader. Says Ramrao Adik, the state's finance minister: "Our chief minister has done for the state in one year what others could not do in 30 years."Having ensured a strong support at the political level Antuay drew a plan to counter the Opposition's propaganda at the district level. Since the urban elite was unaware of the surging crowds which greeted Antulay in the countryside the Directorate of Information and Publicity - which is under the chief minister - brought out over 100,000 copies of a booklet entitled With the Masses which contained 20 black and white pictures of the chief minister. The booklet read: "The state's millions went wild with joy and rolled out the red carpet for a man, who they know, believes in giving all he has for the poor. Here is the chief minister of the poor being taken jubilantly in procession being heard in rapt silence by a grateful people."But the official mouthpiece, quite understandably, was silent about the strategy adopted by the chief minister to attract such large crowds. According to official sources, Antulay directed his secretariat to dig out all the pending requests for the inauguration of various buildings including industrial units, applications for the grant of industrial licenses and allotment of land. Since his main objective was to make a dent in Satara and Sangli - both Maratha-dominated areas - he even went to the extent of allegedly persuading the district authorities to preside over the opening ceremony of an industrial unit in Ogalewadi in Satara district - which had been functioning for over two months. In another case, he sanctioned the licence for a textile mill in the presence of Vijay Mohite a Congress(I) MLA from Solapur. Besides, Antulay also agreed to unveil the statue of Shankar Rao Mohite, the region's prominent social and political leader.Largesse: Unlike most political gatherings, however, Antulay's public meetings were not meant for making promises only. The amount of largesse doled out depended mainly on the number of people present at a function. For example, he made an on-the-spot contribution of Rs 75 lakh for the construction of the Dr Ambedker memorial in Nagpur, without consulting the Cabinet and the Assembly. Besides there is no provision for the donation of such a staggering amount in the 1981-82 budget. He also wrote a cheque for Rs 2 lakh to an educational institution in Pune run be a Congress(I) leader opposed to Antulay, even though there was no request for such a grant. Since Antulay made the financial commitments without budgetary contracts, it has landed him in a hot soup. For the first time in Maharashtra's history, the most opulent state drew overdrafts worth over Rs 70 crore. Till last week, the Maharashtra Government was unable to clear the overdrafts worth over Rs 19 crore which have been due since July. Says a Congress (I) leader: "There is no attempt to collect revenues for the Government. Antulay believes in giving." The state's revenue collection has fallen by over 40 per cent during the last six months.Antulay's gimmickry, nevertheless, has paid him rich dividends. Not only has he been able to ensure the Congress(I)'s victory in the by-elections to the Lok Sabha and the stale's Assembly, but he has also brought home the point that he can administer the state in a better way despite the 'blemishes'. It was precisely because of Antulay's public relations blitz that Mrs Gandhi had to state that Antulay would not be touched as long as the people wanted him to stay. Besides, Antulay's supporters have succeeded - though temporarily - in persuading Mrs Gandhi and Rajiv to believe that the real targets of the Opposition were them and not Antulay. Says a senior Congress(I) functionary: "By their excessive attacks on Antulay, opposition leaders have in fact helped him in surviving for a longer period."A powerful section of the Congress(I) leadership feels that Mrs Gandhi may have decided to get rid of Antulay who has become a source of embarrassment for her. Though she accepted Antulay's recent invitation to visit Nandurbar to address a rally of Adivasis who had voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Congress(I), she did not oblige Antulay by speaking favourably of him like she had done in favour of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Arjun Singh when she visited Bhopal. On the other hand, Mrs Gandhi declared during her speech at the Bombay Regional Congress Committee (BRCC(I) workers meeting on December 5: "When I know that there is something wrong. I rectify it in my own way and in good time. I have done it in the past. What action should I take is my concern or my party's concern.Damaging Report: According to the Congress(I) sources a three-member Cabinet subcommitee consisting of Law Minister Shiv Shankar, Foreign Minister Narashima Rao and Commerce Minister Pranab Mukherjee has already submitted its report on the fund collection drive. The report is supposed to be very damaging to Antulay. Mrs Gandhi is also unhappy with a section of her personal start for misleading the media on the Antulay issue. Mrs Gandhi's media managers are feeding the press that Antulay's fate is, actually sealed, and it is only a question of time.But the opposition leaders are skeptical about Mrs Gandhi's unpredicatable moves. Says Ram Jethmalani, vice-president BJP: "Mrs Gandhi, by defending Antulay's continuance in office, has thrown to the winds the cannon of public decency and constitutional propriety."Adds Madhu Dandavate, leader of the Janata Parliamentary Party in the Lok Sabha: "There are many skeletons in her own cupboards, she has to ensure that they are not exposed before she chooses to throw him out." Opposition leaders also allege that Mrs Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi don't want to disturb Antulay because he is a pawn in their hands. In fact, for the first time, Mrs Gandhi has been able to control Maharashtra politics from New Delhi.Since Mrs Gandhi wants every chief minister to be centrally administered, Antulay is the best choice. And the chief minister also doesn't make any bones about it. Said Antulay on Mrs Gandhi's birthday in Bombay: "I am a faithful servant of Mrs Gandhi and obey her every command. A person like Mrs Gandhi, who had built up the nation deserves to be worshipped."Published By: AtMigration Published On: Oct 22, 2013 13:30 IST--- ENDS ---

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No end in sight to bizarre Abdul Rehman Antulay episode

The survival in office of Maharashtra's Chief Minister Abdul Rehman Antulay has become something of a saga in itself.

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