On May 2, Maharashtra's Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis attracted a lot of wrath because of state government's policy decision related to the installation of statues.

To put it in simple words, the new GR had made it mandatory to get permission from District Collector and NOC from local police station along with NOC from minorities and locals before installing any statue. No matter if it's private or government land, the NOC from minorities in the area was necessary as per the GR. Government's move was termed as minority appeasement on social media.

After facing a lot of criticism, the state government modified its policy and removed the controversial clause. Now, NOC from locals would be enough. A report published by the Indian Express suggests that government modified its order on May 7, as it did not wish to create any controversy.

Several instances of minority appeasement

This is not the first time that Fadnavis has been accused of minority appeasement. His administration was criticized for withholding the name of the adult culprit in Constable Vilas Shinde murder case last year just because culprits were Muslim. The adult, along with his juvenile friend (both Muslims) had attacked the constable with iron rod and bamboo because he had asked them to show their vehicle's documents.

Then it was the state’s ‘internal security bill’ draft that also aimed at making police permission mandatory even for performing religious ceremonies and birthday parties in the house.  Thankfully, CM was forced to drop this draft created by the then state Additional Chief Secretary (Home), K.P. Bakshi. Later, in August 2016, CM claimed that it had not reached political approval level and was just a draft. He blamed the bureaucrat and dumped the draft. As pointed out by several columnists, it aimed to curb fundamental rights and civil liberties of the people.

State administration was quick to issue compensation to alleged communal violence victim Mohsin Sheikh’s family. But, Sawan Rathore's (boy who was burnt alive in Pune by three Muslims after confirming his religion) family has not received a single penny in compensation from the state even after waiting for a year. In fact, CM or Pune City’s MP never even condemned the incident.

Recently, Maharashtra's chief minister was also criticized for issuing orders to remove images of Hindu Gods from government schools and colleges in rural areas. For this, the young CM blamed the bureaucrat from Rural Development Department for issuing orders. Muslim and Dalit outfits had welcomed this decision. 

Serious law and order issues are knocking at the state’s door

Fadnavis has kept the home portfolio with himself. There are two junior ministers (MoS for Home) but Additional Chief Secretary (Home) manages most of the affairs, including making suggestions on policies.

During October last year, Bombay HC criticized the state for poor law and order, especially, increasing rate of dacoity, rape and murder incidents. But, that has not impacted the administration much and the bureaucrat (ACSH- K.P. Bakshi) blamed the shortage of staff in the home department for the failure according to India Today's report.

The number of robberies is such that for the first time in the state's history, people actually organized protest rallies against the police for their inaction to control crime in various cities, including Pune and Nagpur.

Even the famous Maratha Kranti Morcha protest rallies were triggered due to corrupt police's inaction in Kopardi rape and murder case involving minor school girl from Maratha community in Ahmednagar.

In November 2016, ACS (Home) Bakshi was replaced by Sudhir Shrivastava, but nothing changed on the ground.

Stories about policeman and gang nexus are common in many Maharashtrian cities these days. Even top cops are alleged to be involved in extortion cases. 

A Judge's daughter was recently kidnapped in Pune and the kidnapper demanded Rs 50 lakh in ransom. Now, what else can be more alarming than this?

Devendra Fadnavis is already facing the heat for not fulfilling the BJP's farmer loan waiver promise. The administration cannot even fulfill the compensation promises made to family members of Martyrs from the state.

People are voting for the BJP because of their love and confidence on PM Modi. How long will the state suffer? It's time for Fadnavis to get rid of notorious Congressi bureaucrats who intentionally act to hurt the sentiments of Hindus and fail to perform their real duties.   Perhaps, it's time to appoint a full-time home minister for the state who would completely focus on important law and order issues as well as look at state’s policies.