For several weeks now, controversies have been haunting the Eknath Shinde-led state government. The latest one is over reports that he met an astrologer during his visit to Shirdi.
On Wednesday, Shinde cancelled all his appointments and headed to the Saibaba temple at Shirdi. On his way back, he took a detour to Mirgaon in Sinnar in Nashik district to visit Ishanyeshwar Mandir, a temple of Lord Shiva. He reportedly also met Captain Ashokkumar Kharat, chief trustee of the temple, who is also known as an astrologer and numerologist. While Shinde’s party has said that he did not consult Kharat, the Opposition has been slamming him for “rushing to meet an astrologer by cancelling his appointments”.
It won’t come as a surprise if Shinde has indeed met Kharat, who is well-known in north Maharashtra. Several politicians and businesspersons go to him for advice. In fact, a powerful central politician is also known to consult Kharat occasionally. Kharat was in the merchant navy for 22 years, and later claimed to have learnt astrology.
What surprised everyone was the way Shinde rushed to Sinnar via Shirdi and the timing of the same. Is he worried about the verdict of the Supreme Court on his party’s disqualification for violation of the anti-defection law? Is he worried that there could be rapprochement between Uddhav Thackeray and BJP? Is the discontent among his MLAs serious? Or is he wary of NCP leader Ajit Pawar’s growing proximity to the BJP? The rumour mills are working overtime.
But then Shinde is not the first politician or chief minister to seek advice of an astrologer or godman. Barring a few politicians such as Sharad Pawar, most consult some sort of a godman or a spiritual leader before taking important decisions.
Congress leader Ashok Chavan was criticised for inviting Sathya Saibaba to his official residence after he became chief minister in 2008. His predecessor Vilasrao Deshmukh and almost a dozen ministers in successive Congress-NCP governments used to frequent Puttaparthy to seek Sathya Saibaba’s blessings and advice.
Till he died by suicide in June 2018, Bhayyu Maharaj was popular among Maharashtra politicians. He shared cordial relations with former chief ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushilkumar Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis among others. It is said that the family of a top politician had taken his advice for the timing of cremation when the politician died a few years ago.
Two Mumbai-based politician brothers also regularly seek counsel of a Jain spiritual leader in the city. Konkan politicians make a beeline to seek the guidance of Narendra Maharaj at his ashram near Ratnagiri.
Clearly, Shinde is not the first chief minister trying to get some extra help from stars or divine intervention to succeed.
Amol Kolhe on way to BJP?
While NCP leaders are trying to corner BJP in Maharashtra over the issue of insult to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, they may lose a colleague who became popular playing roles of Shivaji and his son, Sambhaji. Speculations are rife that Marathi actor and NCP MP from Shirur Lok Sabha constituency in Pune district, Amol Kolhe, could be on his way to the BJP. Kolhe is not being included in key party matters for some time now. He was not included in the list of star campaigner for the party in Gujarat assembly election even though he is a known face among Marathi speaking population outside Maharashtra due to his serials and movies. He became a household name after he acted as King Sambhaji in a Marathi serial. Significantly, his twitter account has a pinned tweet on him meeting union home minister Amit Shah on October 1 in connection with special screening of his movie Shivpratap Garudzep for VIPs in Delhi. In the same meeting, he also discussed developmental work in his constituency with Shah, his tweet says. All these developments have triggered speculations of his exit from the party. If that happens, it will be a big blow for NCP. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Kolhe had defeated three-term sitting MP of Shiv Sena, Shivajirao Adhalrao-Patil. He was one among only four MPs elected on NCP’s ticket.
All roads lead to Gujarat
About 50 BJP functionaries from Maharashtra including deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis have been deputed by the BJP to campaign for Gujarat assembly election. Fadnavis is one of the star campaigners while party strategists like Vinod Tawde and Ashish Shelar too are playing a role in the party’s bid to retain power in the state. Among those who have been put on Gujarat duty are nine party MPs including all three Mumbai MPs—Poonam Mahajan, Gopal Shetty and Manoj Kotak —, 14 legislators and 20 senior functionaries.
There were speculations that chief minister Eknath Shinde may participate in BJP’s campaign. However, a close aide of Shinde said the CM may avoid the same since the Thackeray faction holds him responsible for several new industrial projects going to Gujarat.
