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PM Narendra Modi said the Maharashtra coalition is strong.
PM Modi to News18: “The trouble in Sharad Pawar’s house is their family dispute. Should the daughter get the reins or the nephew? Similar is the tussle in Shiv Sena like the Congress – should a deserving leader be promoted or the son? We could have taken the CM’s seat, but didn’t…Our votes will go up and the seats will too.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an exclusive interview with Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, said the sympathy of Maharashtra is with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and not Sharad Pawar or Uddhav Thackeray post the split of their parties, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena, respectively.
Responding to a question from Vilas Bade, anchor of News18 Lokmat, Modi said, “The storms that erupted within the Shiv Sena or the NCP clearly show that when you give importance to only your family members over other leaders it leads to difficulties. The trouble in Sharad Pawar’s house is their family dispute. Should the daughter get the reins or the nephew? Similar is the tussle in Shiv Sena like the Congress – should a deserving leader be promoted or the son?”
“These are their disputes. I believe our country hates such dynasty politics. If someone tries to use the word ‘sympathy’ to evoke sympathy among people, I say even that attempt will fail. People hate such things. They cannot accept such things. These are your family disputes, resolve them within your home. Why are you ruining the state of Maharashtra over this,” asked Modi.
PM Modi said another thing is that the BJP has sacrificed for Maharashtra. “Some people thought that we wanted the CM’s seat. No. We could have taken the CM’s seat, but didn’t. We convinced the people of Maharashtra that we live for Maharashtra, not for ourselves. And in this election, this sympathy is in our favour that such a big party, with a chief minister who has been successful is now a deputy chief minister, has sort of put its self-respect on the backburner for the bright future of Maharashtra.”
Modi further added that Maharashtra should not go down the Bengal or Bihar route. “I believe in our country, Bengal has been ruined, Kolkata was once leading the economic growth, but is ruined by politics. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were earlier reduced to unstable conditions. Maharashtra should not be allowed to go down that route. Mumbai is the economic capital of the country. We should move ahead strongly in Maharashtra for the benefit of the country. We are conveying this sentiment to the people of Maharashtra, we are convincing them and the people of Maharashtra are giving us a very positive response.”
When asked about how many seats the BJP could win in the state, he said, “We are moving ahead with a lot of strength. Votes will go up and the seats will too.”
Commenting on the coalition governments in the state, Modi said, “It’s true that the state has been seeing coalition governments for a considerable period now. There was Vilasrao Deshmukh…Even when Sharad Pawar became the chief minister, he was not able to do so alone with absolute majority. Secondly, it has been Maharashtra’s misfortune that for some time now, no CM has been able to serve the five-year term. Devendra Fadnavis was the first person after a long time who served the entire term. The government then was clean and spotless. It was a government that worked for the welfare of the people.”
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When asked if the BJP-Shinde Sena-Ajit Pawar NCP coalition was having issues deciding the seats, the PM said, “I think the problems you mentioned apply to the opposition. They have not been able to decide seats, they are unable to take decisions, parallel elections are being fought there. There is nothing of such sort on our side. We have joined hands and are out to fight unitedly. We have prepared well in advance. Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP have done it. There is no harmony among the fake parties of the opposition.”
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