In a state where uncles can’t trust their nephews, readers can’t trust their newspapers and nobody trusts Sharad Pawar the catch of the season at Bhaucha Dhakka is a species called ‘MLA’ . Netted with great skill and experienced maneuvering (despite attempts at daylight robbery), each and every one of these MLAs count. Understandably, they are being made to feel important. Party managers turned tour managers are giving them free rides through the city, sometimes twice a day and free lodging at seven star hotels. If this is not Mumbai darshan, what is ? And why not ?On the other side lie temptations that only deputy chief ministers can hope to earn in one five year term. But for Vinod Nikole, there seems to be no respite. Even though he is an MLA in Maharashtra, he is not being invited to stay at Hyatt, nor taken to a resort in Jaipur, nor put on a chartered plane to Delhi, neither being offered cabinet positions. So what went wrong for him ?
Perhaps this is because no central minister, MLA hunter, political fixer or money bag has ever ventured as far as Dahanu where Vinod Nikole is stationed these days. He was elected from the adivasi dominated Dahanu on a CPI(M) ticket and it is in Dahanu that he is leading a massive rasta roko outside the SDO office demanding immediate relief for farmers whose kharif crops were damaged by unseasonal rainfall. This was apparently only a pit stop in his tour of 7 tehsils in Thane Palghar district to take part in massive rallies organised by the CPI(M) and Kisan Sabha to demand adequate compensation for farmers.
Vinod Nikole is Maharashtra’s poorest MLA and his story made headlines after his stunning victory. So why isn’t anyone trying to buy Vinod Nikole ? Perhaps because they know that he is not for sale.
