During the exclusive interview, the Maharashtra Congress chief challenged Fadnavis to an open debate on the issue of reservations and the Constitution, and said the deputy CM’s own seat ‘is tight’
The Bharatiya Janata Party won’t make Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde the chief minister if the ruling Mahayuti wins this month’s Maharashtra assembly polls and the incumbent CM is virtually absent from the BJP’s posters and banners, state Congress president Nana Patole has told News18.
In the interview in Nagpur, Patole said it was clear that deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis was the BJP’s face. “The BJP is now saying Eknath Shinde will be the CM. They are only saying we are fighting in his (Shinde’s) leadership, what happens later is not known…Amit Shah has said ‘humne de diya mauka’ (we gave a chance). BJP ke dikhane ke daant aur khane ke daant alag hain (BJP will say something today, but do something else tomorrow). They are not declaring any face,” Patole said.
A BJP banner. Pic/News18
He pointed out how BJP banners and posters were only showcasing Fadnavis. “So, Fadnavis is BJP’s face it seems, like you say I am Congress’s face. On BJP’s banners, you cannot see Eknath Shinde’s face; so, people know the tactics of the BJP,” Patole told News18. He quickly added that even Fadnavis’s win from the Nagpur South-West seat was uncertain. The BJP leader has won from the seat five consecutive times, but Patole claimed it is a tight fight now.
On the question of the CM face in the Maha Vikas Aghadi camp, Patole said he, Uddhav Thackeray, and Sharad Pawar have the single aim of first defeating the BJP. “About the CM, our high command will decide, we all will accept, and we will form a government accordingly. In Maharashtra, the Congress is there in the entire state while our allies have zones of influence, so we are fighting on more seats,” Patole added.
‘BJP Made Maharashtra Its ATM’
The state Congress chief also challenged Fadnavis to an open debate on the issue of reservations and guarantees. He said the five promises that the MVA had made to the people in the form of guarantees were “based on a study of the state’s finances”.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has advised his party to not make extravagant promises during elections and to stick to the realities of the state’s budget. “What our party president said was correct. We did a study as to how to put the Maharashtra budget to best public use, and will fulfil our guarantees,” Patole told News18.
Patole said the MVA has promised Rs 3,000 per month to women and Rs 4,000 per month to unemployed youth, as part of the five guarantees. “You go to women now who are getting Rs 1,500 from the Mahayuti government and you will see positive feedback about our promise,” Patole said. “BJP should talk about its corruption and how it emptied the exchequer. We will finish corruption and give people’s money to the people. Maharashtra has a lot of resources, but BJP has made it its ATM.”
Patole also told News18 that the Congress had fulfilled guarantees in other states, and “they were not jumlas (empty promises) like that of the BJP”. He pointed out how the MVA government earlier waived off Rs 19,000 crore worth of farm loans on coming to power, without any such promise during polls.
‘Caste Census Important’
Patole claimed that the BJP is worried and scared about losing power in Maharashtra. “They are most scared of Rahul Gandhi because he speaks of a caste census, protecting the Constitution, and increasing reservation,” he said. BJP leaders have been saying that the Congress campaign during the Lok Sabha elections of the “Constitution being in danger” will not work anymore.
“It is the BJP which has made the Constitution hollow by filling up posts with RSS people. While the Congress protects the Constitution, the BJP has damaged it. I challenge Fadnavis to have a debate with me on how they, the BJP, have damaged the Constitution, and on the issue of reservation,” said Patole.
