Comments by "M Shastri" (@libshastra) on "Nuances of national, regional and family politics in Maharashtra Pawar-play u0026 how BJP plays the game" video.

Maharashtra has a history of vertical splits in Dynastic parties. Raj Thackeray split from the SS to form MNS, Bhugbal (unsuccessfully) split from the Sena. etc. This is just the latest series of vertical splits. These splits have become a natural feature of dynastic parties in Maharashtra. BTW, BJP Maharashtra absorbing NCP and SS will not dilute it's vote share and on other hand, Ajit's NCP compliment's BJP's lack of presence in Maratawada. Also Pawar and Sule smiling only means they saw Ajit Pawar as a thorn rather than an asset. Sule/rather Pawar especially will likely use this opportunity to clean house, just like what Balasaheb did when Raj split from the SS.
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@abhijitpawar6692 EC is doing exactly what the law says. Just cause opposition is splitting because of genuine organizational issues doesn't mean EC needs to intervene to save the party. Political parties are not PSU Banks. They are at best private institutions, splits like this are private issues.
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@akshaykoul8738 voters vote for fixers. Even those with Criminal backgrounds have achieved more than a Govt of India Babu. I am not even kidding. There's a reason why Arun Gawli gets repeatedly voted back and he has long left behind his gundagiri days. In Mumbai especially, politicians have huge utility when it comes to getting anything done through Govt of India (for eg: Getting BMC babu to issue a permit to repair a broken pipe in your own house). If you care more about "economic and social development", you would invite Akalkot Maharaj into your home and advocate for further reforms of bureaucracy during the yagna. Only Akalkot Maharaj has the power to bring politicians to your home to listen to your issues. Again, I wish I was kidding, but that's how you get things done. In Political science, it's called "provision of public good theory"
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Urban classes treat politicians as agents to derive benefits from. Want to secure an Engineering/Medical seat for your child, meet Pawar/Shinde/Adik/Sule/Sarnaikbhau. They know exactly how much accolades they deserve.
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@akshaykoul8738 Gundas haven't monopolized politics. There was that danger in the 90s but it died out quickly. I am least worried about netas with criminal background as long as they don't go back to criminality. Reformists are unhelpful as well, Modi is quite a reformist TBH. Digital India is a huge improvement and improved throughput of the babudom. However, that's insufficient and 9 years after it launched, babudom has found ways to game the digital systems (like for eg: Babus managed to inject themselves into the approval process for Digital Export Clearance system - 20% margins eaten up by them on top of the 5% costs associated with compliance with the system). We need someone who can micromanage the babudom out of these kinds of opportunistic rent seeking.
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