Now that precedent being turned upon them has frustrated local BJP leaders, including former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, former MP Kirit Somaiya and state BJP president Chandrakant Patil, who have been repeating ad nauseum that the MVA government would collapse by March 10. What startles them is not just the failure of the MVA to act on their demand – thus reinforcing the belief that Malik has been unfairly charged with unsustainable allegations but also the fact that state NCP president Jayant Patil made a big show of visiting Malik’s constituency in Mumbai to assure his voters that he had done nothing wrong and should not be abandoned by them – equally that the NCP will not leave them bereft of a guardian until Malik is released. It was unusual by most standards for such a rally around a member of their party. So far, Chhagan Bhujbal and Anil Deshmukh are others in the NCP who have had the central agencies act against them, fairly or unfairly, but neither had the good fortune to have the entire MCA stand by them in this manner – only the support of Sharad Pawar, albeit after a long silence in both the cases of Bhujbal and Deshmukh, helped them feel not abandoned. So, what has changed in the case of Malik? It is obvious that the MVA is now taking on the BJP by means both covert and overt. The filing of an FIR against former Pune police commissioner Rashmi Shukla for tapping the phones of MVA functionaries is a case in point. Without indulging in any form of shock or awe, cases are being built against those considered inimical to the government and this has involved keeping the sons of Narayan Rane and Kirit Somaiya running to the courts for anticipatory bail in cases that could well have them indicted if pursued to the lawful end.
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