Balasaheb's mixed legacy.
Sreenivasan Jain (DNA,19/11/12) is right that Shiv Sena's decline started
1999 as it failed to give good governance to the state. Maharashtrians
gave a mandate to Shiv Sena-BJP coailition government in 1995 but it
failed to make any difference to the state. At the fag end of the term
it built Mumbai-Pune Express Highway and a number of fly-overs. It
conceived the Bandra-Worli bridge but could not finish it. It promised
to give houses to slum-dwellers but could not initiate it. It revived
the expensive gas-based power project of Enron initiated by the
Congress which became the white elephant of the state. Shiv Sena-BJP
alliance has been in power in Mumbai for many years but have nothing
to be proud of – pot-holed roads, garbage continues to be a problem,
municipal education in dire straits etc. Shiv Sena and all other
parties have failed to get justice for the mill workers.
However, Balasaheb roared like a lion on behalf of Maharashtrians who
were marginalized in the city's life – political, social and economic
– due to historical reasons. There has been improvement in these
spheres for the Maharashtrian youth in the city. That is why many
lakhs of people came to bid farewell to the Saheb.
November 19,2012.
******.
