In the electoral fray from the Yeola constituency for the fifth time, Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal ruled out the possibility of the two NCPs patching up again. In an interview to The Indian Express, Bhujbal termed the Shinde-led Shiv Sena’s move to field its candidate in Deolali seat, where there is an official Mahayuti candidate from the NCP, as unethical. He said the electoral climate has turned in Mahayuti’s favour in the past four months and the NCP will win 45 of the 53 seats it is contesting on the goodwill of the work that its candidates have done. Excerpts from the interview: How do you assess the current political situation for the Mahayuti in North Maharashtra, especially after the debacle in the Lok Sabha polls? The atmosphere is very favourable for the Mahayuti because of the welfare schemes we started over the past four months, from the Ladki Bahin Yojana and free education for girls to stipend of Rs 10,000 for boys and schemes like free electricity and solar pumps for farmers, among others. We are now even planning to expand the scope of the schemes along with benefits. So, the negative atmosphere and the issues that were there during the Lok Sabha polls are no longer there. During that time, there was a narrative that the Constitution would be changed. This narrative affected Dalits, Muslims and others. But after the polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed how he respects the Constitution with his steps and proved that it was a fake narrative spread by the Opposition. But do you think all these schemes the Opposition calls as freebies are financially viable? These are welfare schemes and are completely viable. The Mahayuti government has proved it in the past four months. After launching and successfully implementing these schemes, we also approved several development projects. So, it is possible and that’s why the Opposition has itself announced similar schemes in which they are promising to give Rs 3,000 and free bus travel for women, among others. The most important thing is, the Opposition’s guarantees are only a promise, but we have already implemented it. How will the NCP’s performance be? How many seats will it win? NCP’s performance will be very good. The party will win at least 45 seats (of the 52 it’s contesting). The reason is, all the candidates have done extraordinary development work and will win on the work they have done. There are several instances of infighting in the Mahayuti, especially in Nashik where your nephew is contesting against Sena’s Suhas Kande and the Sena has fielded a candidate against the Mahayuti’s official NCP candidate. Rebellion takes place in every election and Independents also contest in every election. Similarly in Nandgaon constituency, a different circumstance arose. The people of Nandgaon insisted Sameer Bhujbal (nephew of Chhagan Bhujbal) contest from the seat to end the ‘dadagiri’ by incumbent Sena MLA Suhas Kande. I told him (Sameer) if you want to contest, then you will have to resign as the party’s Mumbai president, which is a big post. He did that and is contesting. He has given only one slogan: ‘Bhay-mukt Nandgaon’ (A Nandgaon free of fear). Kande threatened the tehsildar and abused him on camera, that too when the Model Code of Conduct is in place. The video went viral. If he can get away with such ‘dadagiri’ with government servants, imagine the plight of the common man. Sameer resigned from the NCP and is contesting independently without using the party symbol but what happened in Deolali and Dindori is not good. They (Shinde Sena) sent AB forms by helicopter and fielded candidates against the NCP, which is not ethical. The Sena claims its candidates were unreachable on the last day of withdrawal of nomination and hence they are in the fray. I don’t know what happened, but you are in government. How can you say you couldn’t reach your own candidates? Why are you not comfortable with Suhas Kande? Personally, I have nothing against him. But instead of asking me, if you pose this question to the people of Nandgaon about what they are going through under Kande, they will narrate their horror. He is working recklessly and people are suffering. Are you going to campaign for Sameer Bhujbal? No, neither I nor Pankaj (his son). Sameer is capable of fighting his own battle. Can the two NCPs patch up again? I don’t think it is possible now because of the way things have turned out in recent days. It has deteriorated. Shinde Sena leader and former MP Hemant Godse said he lost the polls because of you… you campaigned against him. These are baseless allegations. I would have won the Nashik Lok Sabha seat. Delhi also knew it and was insisting on my nomination. But the Sena wanted that seat and they (Shinde Sena and its candidate Godse) were not willing to withdraw. After waiting for a month, I opted out of the race. But what happened ultimately? He (Godse) lost by two lakh votes and now he is blaming me. Everyone knew this was going to happen. Will these rivalries or infighting in Nashik hamper your electoral prospects? Not at all. I don’t consider all these as rivalries or infighting. To fight with someone, one must have that strength and I don’t feel they have that. Manoj Jarange-Patil has been targeting you and Devendra Fadnavis over Maratha reservation. There is no reason to target me. I have been working for Samata Parishad for the past 35 years for OBC reservation. What I am saying is, there were 250 castes in OBC initially (1990s) and now there are 374 castes. Those which were considered as valid by the Supreme Court (SC) and the commission were also accepted by us. But the commission has denied reservation to Marathas. Similarly, the SC has rejected it thrice. So, we are saying that Marathas should be given reservation, but separately and not from the OBC quota. Forget me, does any leader of the state, including Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackery, Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar or anyone from the Congress, is saying Marathas should be given reservation under OBC. I am saying the same thing. So what is the point of targeting me? Will the Maratha quota issue have an impact in the Assembly elections? I don’t think it will have such an impact. First of all, there are 65 per cent Maratha candidates in the fray from the Mahayuti as well as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). So against whom the Marathas will be voting and why? Also, MLAs can’t do anything about the issue. Even if they promised to solve it, it has to go through legalities. It’s not in the hands of MLAs. Who is going to be the CM in Mahayuti? In a democracy, after the polls, leaders and MLAs of the party that has won maximum seats decide who will be the chief minister. But one thing is sure that the Mahayuti government will return to power with the maximum number of elected MLAs. Recently, Nawab Malik said Ajit Pawar will be kingmaker post polls. Does it mean there is a possibility of joining the MVA again or reuniting with Sharad Pawar? Every party’s leader is the kingmaker. Post polls, all these kingmakers will sit together and decide who will be the king (CM). But there is no possibility at all of going back to the MVA again.
