HT interview: Focus now is to make Modi the PM, we’ll think about CM later, says Shinde

Two phases of LS polls are done. What, according to you, are the big issues in these elections?

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The work done by honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi, taking the country on the path of development and improving India’s position globally has resonated in the first two phases. In addition, our government in Maharashtra has performed well in the last two years. In infrastructure, we are the number one state in the country now. All the projects had either halted or shut down [in Uddhav Thackeray’s government]. The previous CM would sit at home doing Facebook Live sessions, he would not even come to Mantralaya. But governments cannot be run through social media. One needs to be among the people, face disasters head on. We have been doing that 24/7 and now the Mahayuti is way ahead in these two phases, we believe.

You have been criticising Uddhav Thackeray, but the fact is also that people are unhappy with the way parties were broken up. Don’t you think this sympathy will work for him?

There is no sympathy factor at play as he betrayed the BJP and the people. We fought the elections in alliance and yet a government (MVA) was formed with other parties in 2019. On a personal level, his greed to become chief minister led to this. They even dumped Balasaheb’s (Thackeray) ideology. Balasaheb used to say that he would not join hands with Congress, and yet, they went ahead and aligned with the Congress. People wanted a government of the natural alliance of Shiv Sena-BJP.

Ours, on the other hand, is the natural alliance of Shiv Sena and BJP. So, how will they (the Thackerays) who cheated the people and sat at home, get sympathy? For them, those who left the party were traitors while those who are still with them are good. If this was indeed the case and people were sympathetic to them, we would not have got support from the people wherever we go.

Leaders from Shiv Sena (UBT) allege that you were helpless on account of certain actions by the central agencies and that you had, in fact, gone to Uddhav to explain to him why you had to break away. What’s your comment?

All this is a lie. Thackeray wanted to form the government and wanted to become the CM. As soon as the results of 2019 assembly polls were announced, he issued a statement that all the doors were open for us. The Congress and Sharad Pawar got together and Uddhav ji told Pawar to put forward his name.

I had been requesting him to form the government with the BJP but he refused. I have all the information about who used to get money, and who used to think about money day and night. This (money) is the reason he is not a mass leader. He does not care about the people. The entire world knows their properties and how they came by them.

After you formed the government, opposition leader Ajit Pawar joined you, breaking the Nationalist Congress Party. Don’t you think this has confused people about your ideology and alliance?

Not at all. I am a grassroots party worker. I was influenced by Balasaheb’s thoughts and joined the party. Yes, we did leave the party because our ministers were not able to work despite their chief being the chief minister. He was doing nothing in the face of his party workers going to jail and facing cases. We, on the other hand, did fantastic job in Mumbai and Maharashtra after forming the government with the BJP. Ajit Pawar came and joined us on this very issue of development. He was inspired by Modij i’s work and he did not come with us because he had a problem within his own party.

Is it challenging to run an alliance of three parties?

For us is it not challenging as we want to serve the people and take the state forward. We have performed well in all sectors be it infrastructure, tourism, air connectivity or any other sector.

Is there an understanding with the BJP that you will continue as the CM even after the assembly polls later this year, should you win?

Our priority right now is to make Modi the PM for the third time. Our target is to win more seats in Maharashtra (than in 2019). We want to bring Modi Ji’s government back in the country. Vidhan Sabha is in the future and we are not thinking about who is going to be the next CM.

You got more seats than the number of sitting MPs from your party. Was it difficult to wrangle that?

Why should it be difficult? We have 13 sitting MPs and we are now contesting 15 seats.

Are you confident of your strike rate after getting these many seats?

Our strike rate will be 100%. It is not true that did not have enough number of candidates in some constituencies. On the contrary, the delay was because w had too many contestants.

People say that after the Maratha agitation in the state, the OBCs are upset with your government?

Not at all. We have given 10% reservation to Marathas without touching the existing quota of OBCs and others. The OBCs are happy because we have given Marathas separate reservation. We are confident that the reservation will stand legal scrutiny.

Then why is Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil upset with the government and appealing to the community to teach a lesson to those who troubled them?

This is not true. We have fulfilled their demands and the demand of the Kunbi certificates is on the verge of completion. The opposition has been propagating their propaganda that Jarange-Patil is against us. He has been fighting for his community and it’s not a political battle. He has not taken stand against or in favour of any political party.

Is Mumbai losing its status as the pre-eminent financial centre? Especially after GIFT city came up in Gujarat?

Mumbai is an international city, the financial hub, and people from all across the country come here. But nothing was done for the city all these years. It was full of traffic, pollution and garbage…We have taken steps to bring Mumbai on par with other international cities.

What about the allegations of major investment projects being shifted to Gujarat at the cost of Maharashtra?

The people who have been alleging this, are the ones responsible for industries going out to other state. Vedanta-Foxconn went to a neighbouring state because of the Thackeray government. The previous government was interested in securing a “commission” from the potential investors, rather than facilitating things for them. Things like the bomb scare outside the residence of an industrialist, protests outside the home of another industrialist were things that happened in their regime and led to industries going out of the state. We have turned this around. Maharashtra is once again an industry-friendly state in which investors have confidence.

If your performance were so good, why did you need to bring Raj Thackeray’s MNS on board too?

Why should anyone have problem with Raj Thackeray? Our government is working well, the Modi governement is working well and which was why he felt like joining us.

Is a reconciliation between the two Shiv Senas ever possible?

Why should one think of this? Ours’ is the original Shiv Sena. Ours is the party run on the ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray. We have the symbol. They call us an unconstitutional government but the Election Commission ruled in our favour. When a court verdict is in their favour, the court is good, but when it’s against them, the court is at fault. It’s the same EVMs. When they win, they don’t have a problem, but when we win, they blame the machine. This has been happening because they do not want the party, its symbol or the ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray. They (Thackerays) are interested only in making money. They even withdrew the ₹50 crore from the party account after the split.

We hear a lot about your complicated relationship with your deputies. How would you describe your relationships with Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar?

We share a very cordial relationship. We are together with the common motto of development and we are not (in it) for politics… We are not like the Congress which did not deliver its promises made to the voters of Karnataka last year. Ours is the Modi guarantee, and we keep our word.