Neerja Chowdhury spoke with Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Rao Chavan on whether the Congress will be going it alone in the Assembly elections and other issues.
CURRENT: Vilasrao Deshmukh and Prithviraj Chavan both made a case for the Congress going it alone in the coming Assembly elections in Maharashtra. What is your view?
Chavan: There are different opinions in the party. Narayan Rane feels one way, Vilasrao Deshmukh has his view; the district presidents have their views. In some places there are advantages (of going it alone), in other places there are disadvantages. This varies from district to district. Ultimately we will have to take a comprehensive view and convey it to the high command. The Central leadership will take a view.
What is your personal view on it?
I will go by the feelings of my party-men. The important thing is to win the elections. How many seats we can get is important.
As the Chief Minister of the state, you would surely have an assessment of how best you can win these seats?
The ultimate score has not become very clear. However, the division of the secular vote is a major issue.
If you do decide to go with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) again, last time you gave them 122 seats. How many seats will you leave for them this time?
It is too early to say. I am not an astrologer to say how things will take shape. I can say this: the trend is good for the Congress. And I can say this with confidence that the Congress will form a government in Maharashtra.
With or without the allies?
That will depend on the situation, but we will form the government.
Do you think the trend that was evident in the Lok Sabha elections will continue in the Vidhan Sabha polls too?
The general atmosphere will continue. People like to have the same government in the state as there is in Delhi so that there is continuity. In the Lok Sabha elections people realised that stability and development is important and the same pattern will be repeated in the state also.
Would not the Padamsinh Patil controversy damage you? After all, the NCP has been an ally of the Congress?
My party cannot take responsibility for Padamsinh Patil. Why should the Congress be blamed for it? The charges against him have not yet been proved so let us see what will emerge. But it does affect the morale of their party. But we are not a part of them.
Some people in the NCP say that this is a ploy to keep the sword hanging over the head of the NCP?
Have they said anything on record?
No
Then why should I say anything?
The Shiv Sena has done well in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha elections except in the Mumbai-Thane area, where the Congress did well because of Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Does not this pose a challenge for you in the Assembly polls?
I do agree. But then every election is a challenge. It is the work we have done in the state in the last four years, for farmers and on the development front, which will weigh in our favour.
As far as farmers go, Rajiv Shetty won as an independent – and this is a new trend – by raising the farmers’ issues. As in West Bengal, where the Left parties paid a price for their policies on Nandigram and Singur, you have also faced problems with special economic zones SEZs. What are the corrective steps you are planning to take?
Except for the district of Raigad, we have had no problem. We have done no forcible acquisition of land in Maharashtra. There was resistance (in Raigad) because of large industrial development which has taken place but the acquisition was done privately. The government has not gone for land acquisition here, the Central government’s guidelines are very clear.
On the one hand you want industrial development and talk about Maharashtra slipping, on the other hand you say have no land acquisition. You can’t talk about both things at the same time.
You have to have proper handling of the issue, which is very important. This year however is only for elections. Nothing else. The first election is over and we have the second election ahead. First we have to get out of the elections and then move on other fronts.
You have now been Chief Minister for six months. What are the things that have surprised you pleasantly and those that have caught you by surprise?
I had been in government for 10 years. I take things as they come. Nothing was a surprise for me. I hope for the best and prepare for the worst. But I am playing a 20:20 match. I have to hit runs every day.
What do you see as the big challenges before you?
The first is security and we have been gearing up (for it). Strengthening the police force for instance: and other things which are going on. The second is the industrial and employment generation. We have to move at a pace to create meaningful employment for the youth of Maharashtra.
The MNS has emerged as a new force which poses a challenge to established parties in the state.
Earlier it was said that the Bahujan Samaj Party was the challenge to the Congress, and would cut into the party’s vote. Now they are talking about the MNS. Every election poses some challenge or the other.
I am not unduly worried about the MNS. The basis of my confidence is what we have done in the state.
The MNS is attracting younger voters in Maharashtra?
We have to take corrective action. We have to bring in younger leadership. There are many who have been taken in the ministry at the Centre.
There has been talk about the possibility of the NCP merging into the Congress.
It is for them to decide.
Would you be in favour of it?
Anything that strengthens the Congress is welcome.
What will be your campaign thrust in the coming elections?
We will focus on what has been done in the last 10 years and on secularism.