Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP leader and deputy chief minister, is the face of the party’s campaign in Maharashtra and has a lot riding on this election personally, especially after the rout in the Lok Sabha.
In an interview by Hindustan Times’ Senior Assistant of political bureau Surendra P Gangan, Devendra Fadnavis speaks about divisive slogans, what the party has changed over the past four months, the accusations made against him by NCP leader Anil Deshmukh, and whether industrialist Gautam Adani participated in the 2019 government formation negotiations with the NCP. Edited passages from the conversation are:
Q: Ashok Chavan, Pankaja Munde, and Ajit Pawar have all stated that they disapprove of the BJP’s popular campaign slogan, “Batenge toh katenge.” What do you think?
A: The slogan’s meaning was unclear to Ajit Pawar and others. This nation’s past, whether it be through regionalism, the caste system, or the linguistic system, allowed foreigners to dominate us. The Congress has the same design. “The 350 OBC castes are important because they are united, and if they are divided through a caste-based survey, their importance will decrease,” the prime minister stated. What Batenge toh Katenge actually means is that we should all be together.In the Lok Sabha elections in Amravati, Mumbai North Central, and North East, Muslims united to defeat the Mahayuti candidates, demonstrating our opposition to vote jihad. Is raising a banner in Allah’s name considered secularism?
Q: So ‘Batenge toh katenge is a response to what you call Vote Jihad?
A: It was, indeed. Our tagline, “Ek hai toh safe hai,” also serves as a reminder to society to stay safe. We have nothing against Muslims. Welfare programs are designed with Muslim sisters in mind.
Q: You claim that the Narendra Modi administration has lifted 2.5 crore people out of poverty; if so, why is it necessary to introduce programs like “Ladki Bahin”?
A: Lifting people out of poverty does not translate into their becoming wealthy. As they move into the lower middle class, they still have some goals in mind. The purpose of the government’s welfare programs is to provide their fundamental necessities and make their lives comfortable.
Q: But haven’t these populist plans caused the state economy to suffer?
A: A mound of debt is not weighing us down. The state economy’s size is more significant than its debt. Our economy is worth ₹40 lakh crore, but we owe about ₹6.5 lakh crore. In contrast, Utter Pradesh’s GDP is worth roughly ₹25 lakh crore, and their debt load is comparable to ours. We allocated the necessary funds when we introduced Ladki Bahin.
Q: The BJP has provided 16 candidates to the Sena led by Shinde and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar in addition to running for its own seats. After the elections, would these candidates rejoin the BJP?
A: Why only those individuals? At least 17 members of Uddhav Thackeray’s party’s initial list were once members of our party. That does not imply that they will contact us again following the election. However, we did have an agreement with Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde to allow some of our leaders to run in their respective areas. This occurred because of the BJP’s preparations to run for all 288 seats, which is obviously not feasible in an alliance with all of our leaders.
Q: Why didn’t the Mahayuti back Amit, the son of Raj Thackeray, at Mahim?
A: Shiv Sena leaders stated that not fielding their candidate would benefit the Shiv Sena-UBT, which is why nothing could be done, despite the BJP and even Chief Minister Shinde’s desire to back Amit Thackeray in Mahim.
Q: Following the election, the leaders of Ajit Pawar’s party are claiming to be the kingmaker.
A: They are not considered to be a part of the Mahayuti.
Q: Who will be your party’s nominee for chief minister, and what is the target number of seats established by the ruling alliance?
A: The goal we set is a secret, but we will establish a government. The heads of the three alliance parties will make the decision about the CM position. Ajitdada Pawar and Shinde Saheb are the heads of their parties, and our parliamentary board gives our state president the authority to ask for the chief minister, whose name will ultimately be chosen by the highest central leaders. There isn’t a formula yet.
Q: Since the Lok Sabha defeat, what has changed?
A: We were disadvantaged by the narrative around the Constitution and Vote Jihad, which refers to the aggregation of Muslim votes against them. Rahul Gandhi himself killed the first one by suggesting that the quota should be abolished when he was overseas. Rahul Gandhi is not known to have said anything like that. “Vote Jihad” won’t be effective in assembly elections. In contrast to the Lok Sabha constituency, where a concentration of votes of a specific faith in one location can influence the outcome, in this election, that concentration of voters will only, at most, affect the outcome in one constituency. Six Assembly constituencies usually make up a Lok Sabha constituency.
Q: The BJP’s alliance with Ajit Pawar has never been accepted by some members of the party.
A: We were unable to persuade them before, but we have now done so.
Q: In the Lok Sabha, the Marathas voted against the Mahayuti. Are you also concerned about how the Marathas’ reservation struggle may affect this election?
A: The claim that the Marathas voted against us is untrue. We would not have received 43.6% of the vote compared to MVA’s 43.9% if they had done so. Given that the BJP won 105 seats in 2019, I can state with confidence that we will gain in every region and that our total will not drop by even one seat.
Q: The retired justice Chandiwal, who was assigned by the former Mumbai police commissioner to investigate the corruption claims made against former home minister Anil Deshmukh, discussed the investigation in a recent interview. Given that you have been drawn into the dispute by Anil Deshmukh, what are your thoughts?
A: The leaders of Anil Deshmukh’s party, who sought to establish a particular narrative, were exposed by retired Justice Chandiwal. No one has been granted a clean sheet by his report, according to Chandiwal, who also claimed that those in charge of supplying the commission with evidence failed to do so. His testimony also reveals that, in response to pressure from the government at the time, police officer Sachin Vaze modified his first accusation that Deshmukh had used police officials to extort money from dance club owners. The most significant thing he mentioned was that Devendra Fadnavis was framed. Doesn’t that suggest I was their target?
Q: In that case why did your government not make Justice Chandiwal’s report public?
A: Since it was no longer relevant, we didn’t do it. The charge sheet has already been turned in by the CBI. It’s also important to consider that Anil Deshmukh was given bail on health grounds, which is a technical bail.
Q: According to recent statements made by your fellow deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, businessman Gautam Adani attended the 2019 BJP-NCP government formation meeting. In reality, what took place?
A: On November 11, 2019, a meeting was held in Delhi with me, Amit Shah, Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar, and Praful Patel present. It was not, however, at Gautam Adani’s home or in his presence, let me be clear.
Q: Then, is Ajit Pawar alluding to another meeting that took place with Gautam Adani involved?
A: As far as I know, there was no further meeting for this.
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