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Asserting that the NDA will better its record of winning 41 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in the 2019 elections despite a strong challenge by the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said every election is not about political arithmetic and the upcoming polls will be about PM Narendra Modi’s chemistry with the people.
In a wide-ranging interview with NDTV’s Editor-In-Chief Sanjay Pugalia on Friday, Mr Fadnavis also spoke about the alliance’s perceived difficulties in seat sharing, infrastructure development in Maharashtra and Mumbai, possible new allies and the shortcomings of the previous government led by former alliance partner Uddhav Thackeray.
At 48, Maharashtra sends the second-highest number of MPs to the Lok Sabha and when Mr Fadnavis was asked about the complicated politics in the state given the split in the Shiv Sena and the NCP, he said, “It is not about factions or groups. There are two camps, one that is with PM Modi and one that is against him. The people have decided to vote for those who are with the PM, irrespective of the party or symbol.”
On why the BJP had declared the names of 20 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections despite reported difficulties in agreeing on seat-sharing with the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, Mr Fadnavis said 80% of constituencies had been agreed upon and every party was free to announce the names for those.
Emphasising that despite pro-incumbency, the BJP always works with its allies and takes them along, Mr Fadnavis refused to confirm the number of seats each party has decided to contest, citing alliance dharma. He also said there is no formula of the BJP taking the lead in the Lok Sabha polls and giving a bigger share to allies in the Assembly elections.
“We have 115 seats in the Assembly, the Sena has 50 and the NCP has 42 or 43. So, we are still the biggest party in the alliance. Our partners also understand that. But I can definitely say that they will be respected. We will also fight and win the Assembly polls together,” he said.
New Alliances?
When he was asked whether there were attempts of allying with Uddhav Thackeray again, Mr Fadnavis dismissed the idea and also criticised the former chief minister’s stand on some issues.
“There is no scope of any such attempts. You can take note of this. If he is making an attempt, I don’t know. From our end, there is no scope and no reason to do so. The roles he has taken, the anti-Modi role… I am sad that, for vote-bank politics, he is now indulging in pseudo-secular, appeasement politics,” he said in Hindi.
“He has opposed the Citizenship Amendment Act. I am finding it difficult to understand Bal Thackeray’s son could do so. So I think the groups are now divided,” he added.
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