Mr Naik has been made to quit. That only proves right the critics who have been saying that his saber-rattling against Mr Pawar should only be deemed the type of audacity and desperation of one at bay. That he forced the Congress President to demand his resignation tarnishes his image beyond redemption.
Mr Naik seems to have thought that Mr Narasimha Rao’s equations with Mr Sharad Pawar’s supporters allegedly converted a meeting of the Maharashtra Congress Legislature Party into a free-for-all. Mr Naik retaliated by dismissing six Ministers who were said to be Mr Pawar’s men.
What Mr Naik seems to have forgotten in his oust Pawar frenzy, is that the type of decision he took involving the dismissal of six Ministers constituted a risky step in the wrong direction. The Congress high command has a reputation of pruning hot headedness by removing the leader of the hot heads.
That is exactly what has occurred. Perhaps that itself might not have compelled his removal from Chief Ministership (by forcing him to resign). The immediate provocation was his public demand that Mr Pawar should be dropped not only of his Defence Ministership but of his membership in the Congress.
Such things are said in camera in the unofficial meetings of dissidents. To have gone to the street with this demand is tantamount to unpardonable indiscipline. Mr Naik might have expected many others to shout on these lines with him. Whether he spoke for himself or was provoking others to speak like him it was breach of party discipline.
Kamaraj and Rajaji in their days had clashed but they never took their quarrel to the street. At the final tally Kamaraj abided by the norms of party discipline. He did not start a public campaign against Rajaji even though he had a grievance that Sardar Patel was prejudiced in favour of Rajaji.
Of course Indira Gandhi was a ruthless disciplinarian. None in the party had the courage to stand up to her on any issue. Her son had won such a massive mandate that he could impose his will without dispute. That Mr Narasimha Rao, who had no such charisma or credentials, acted fearlessly, is proof of his fortitude and sense of justice.
Of course the one thing that Mr Naik refused to concede was his incompetence. None would confess to it but none other than Mr Naik would ignore the fact that he had not revealed any iron hand in a crisis. The incidence and intensity of the Bombay riots exposed his unreliability at a critical hour.
No wonder gang wars erupted with the dons settling their mutual scores and the majority community indulging in evicting the minority from their habitats through murder, loot and arson. Bombay has now ingested communal as well as parochial poisons it will take long for that city to regain its reputation as a peaceful and elegant metropolis.
The troubles of Maharashtra are not over. The issue of succession to the Chief Ministership is yet to be settled. Its settlement cannot lie in merely opting for a neutral candidate who does not belong to either Mr Pawar’s or Mr Naik’s faction. In that sense, Mr Narasimha Rao is yet to tackle the major problem in Maharashtra.
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