Prithviraj Chavan, chairman of the Congress’s Maharashtra Lok Sabha election campaign committee, explains why the party did not give even a single ticket in the State to a Muslim candidate and the shift in vote dynamics on the ground. Edited excerpts:
This time, the Maharashtra Lok Sabha election is a lot different from the rest of India.
Well, there are three political parties on either side, substantial parties, which is not there in any other contest I think. Even for Maharashtra, it is happening for the first time. So, I think the future of the two splits will be decided.
There also is a change in the arithmetic
MLAs have shifted towards the ruling party. What about the people who voted for them? Have they also shifted? We don’t think so.
How will the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) dent the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA) prospects this time?
The entire logic of creating INDIA alliance was to avoid division of Opposition votes. We know that Narendra Modi only got 31% votes in 2014, it rose to 37% after Balakot, so, their core strength is only 30%. But the 70% people who vote against Modi, their vote gets split, that is what INDIA attempted to avoid. Now Modi is trying to ensure that more people contest and splitv otes. The VBA is doing that. It got 7% votes in 2019 in alliance with the AIMIM. This time , the AIMIM is no longer with it. So, if you take out 4% votes of the AIMIM, as per the 2019 statistics, VBA has about 3% vote share, but the Ambedkarites have understood that this poll is about saving the Constitution. I think the VBA is trying to split the vote. Obviously, it is being funded and supported by the ruling party. This is what it has been doing for a long time. Last time, it succeeded because of an alliance with AIMIM, and about 7-8 seats of ours were affected. This time, it will not happen.
There have been Congress leaders who left the party to join rival parties.
There are three types of people: one who have been given a Rajya Sabha seat such as Milind Deora and Ashok Chavan, those who are facing serious enquiries, like Ajit Pawar and Ashok Chavan, and those seeking money. So, this Saam-Daam-Danda-Bhed (Respect-Bribe-Punishment-Divide) policy, but the Congress party has not split. How much can they give? It’s causing a lot of tension within the BJP itself. Whatever defections had to happen, have happened. No more left.
How do you react to the situation in Sangli (where Congress leader Vishal Patil is contesting as an Independent)?
It was unfortunate the way it panned out. But among three parties, we had to share more seats. Sangli seat went to the Shiv Sena (UBT).
Didn’t INDIA bloc take too long to decide on seat sharing?
I think the INDIA bloc allies in different States have done differently. In Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, seat sharing happened quickly. Maharashtra took a little longer.
MVA has been together for almost five years, so why the delay?
Because last election, unfortunately, the Congress only won one seat, while 18 seats were won by the (undivided) Shiv Sena in alliance with BJP. Out of those who won the 18 seats, 13 have left. So, the question is, does the candidate win the election or the party win the election?
MVA hasn’t given a ticket to even a single Muslim candidate.
That’s fine, we had to field a winning candidate. The people who decide are in the election committee in Delhi, and the leadership in Maharashtra. They have decided the seats and who should contest from where. Shiv Sena (UBT) was not expected to give any Muslim candidate an opportunity, the Congress and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) were contemplating, but it didn’t pan out that way.
Who are the Prime Ministerial candidates from the INDIA bloc?
Ours is a British parliamentary kind of a system, where two parties fight and the party getting more MPs will select their candidate after elections. Having a face for the general election is precisely what Narendra Modi is trying to do, we are not going to fall into that trap. This is going to be like the 1977 election. It is about winning the Lok Sabha seat in each of the constituencies. When we get more seats, we will sit down and elect the PM candidate. There always are tough calls, it will happen again.
