Vinayak Raut interview: ‘We may not have BJP, Narayan Rane’s money or muscle power but people are with us’

Vinayak Raut: Not at all. The people know everything and they are very angry with the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. There is a lot of resentment against the BJP for engineering the split in the party and they have understood that the party’s intention was to finish the Sena. Only then they can get Marathi people out of Mumbai and break Mumbai from Maharashtra.

What are your challenges in the current Lok Sabha election? You defeated Nilesh Rane twice, but now you are up against Narayan Rane who is fighting on a BJP ticket amid the new political equations in Maharashtra.

Vinayak Raut: Konkan is a peaceful place of God-fearing people. We don’t want hooliganism and bloodshed in the Konkan. When people got an opportunity to oust such people (Rane) from Konkan, they elected me and gave me an opportunity to represent this constituency. In the Kudal and Mumbai Assembly polls too they defeated Rane because they don’t want mafia and hooliganism. People have rejected Rane because they know who is the root cause of disrupting peace. In this election too, Narayan Rane is going to lose for sure. The people of Konkan have decided to not give Rane and his sons’ high-handedness any space in Konkan. Konkan is the region where people believe in Balasaheb Thackeray and there is unity in the Sena cadre now and they are working hard to defeat Rane for the third time.

Rane has been banking on the development he has brought about in Sindhudurg district, like the Chipi airport. What are you counting on?

Vinayak Raut: See, the overall development of Konkan is of course on my agenda and I have done some work too. The Mumbai-Goa Expressway was completed because of my efforts. Even (Union minister) Nitin Gadkari would agree that I got the expressway work done. Chipi airport was completed because of me. The project may have been initiated by Rane but it was I who got it completed and Union ministers Suresh Prabhu and Jyotiraditya Scindia also know about it. But we opposed how thousands of acres were forcefully acquired for the airport and other projects by these people (led by Rane) and it was given to their relatives.

How are you going to challenge Narayan Rane?

Vinayak Raut: We have the blessings of our Sainiks and Balasaheb Thackeray. Our loyal cadre is our strength. We may not have the money and muscle power of Rane and the BJP but we have the people in our favour. We have the blessings of the voters and the support of the people. The people’s verdict will be in our favour for sure. So we do not have to worry and we are relaxed. But it is not that we are not doing anything; we are campaigning and meeting people like always and seeking their blessings. The personal connection with the people and their blessing is my strength.

What are the challenges before you in the constituency in terms of development?

Vinayak Raut: The major challenge before me is to bring about holistic development which includes generation of jobs and bringing environment-friendly projects. Of the ten years of my tenure, for five years we were in the opposition only, so the projects which were earlier approved by me were later not given any boost by the BJP-led Centre. There is huge cultivation of mangoes, cashews and coconuts in Konkan, so there is a need to have small and medium size food processing units to manufacture their byproducts.

Earlier, cashew was exported but now there is a ban on it so the export from this region has stopped. Apart from that, the government has allowed the import of cashews from countries like Tanzania and Africa. So the good quality of Konkan’s cashew is wasted. There is a minimum support price (MSP) for cashews in Goa, but no MSP for cashews in the Konkan region. Fishing is another occupation of people from this region but the laws for fishing are unfair on fishermen and hence I have demanded to change it. These two districts are suffering due to the wrong policies of Narayan Rane. This is a challenge for me and I would work in that direction.

You say the district needs industries for generation of jobs but you are also opposing the refinery. Why?

Vinayak Raut: Yes, we are against the refinery project and will always oppose it. We want environmental friendly projects coming to Konkan. If they are saying that the refinery project is so good then so far at least 16 projects have been shifted to Gujarat from Maharashtra and Mumbai. Now the question arises, when the BJP is systematically shifting and taking all the mega projects to Gujarat, why have they left out the refinery project which is worth Rs 3 lakh crore? How come they are taking those to Gujarat and this project is coming to Maharashtra?

The reason is that outsiders had purchased the lands in Nanar (the earlier refinery site). In the newly proposed Barsu site also around 341 outsiders, BJP leaders, MLAs, MPs and bureaucrats have already purchased land parcels. So this project is being set up here for the benefit of these people and not for the residents of Konkan.

They have purchased the land at throwaway prices by misleading them. They purchased land at Rs 5-7 lakh per acre rate and now they are going to get rates of Rs 1 crore when the land is acquired.

This project is not for the betterment of Konkani people, but for these land mafias. We will not let this project come to Konkan. They wish to destroy the villages. Secondly, they have suddenly appointed CIDCO as a development authority for around 1,000 Konkan villages. Why? This is being done to loot Konkan. We will oppose it.