He added, “As far as Chavan is concerned, there were allegations against him. His own party started inquiring, filed chargesheets, and today, the status is that the Bombay High Court has said there can’t be a case against him. There is an appeal pending in the Supreme Court, but it is only after the High Court’s observations that he came to our party.”
For the others who have joined the Mahayuti alliance despite allegations of corruption, Fadnavis said, the investigative agencies are free to do their job.
“We aren’t denying that others are in an alliance with us, but we haven’t made any deal with them. This is politics. Politically, the moment you are pushed to the wall, or when people are dishonest with you, you have to respond. So, we have tried to create a larger alliance. Yes, it is possible that our alliance partners may have some allegations, but we haven’t made any deal with them to give a clean chit. The agencies will see and do what they feel is right,” he said.
The BJP joined hands with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in June 2022, after Shinde walked out of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government (comprising the undivided Shiv Sena, undivided NCP and Congress) with a majority of MLAs, causing it to collapse. The BJP and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena then allied to form a government in the state.
The BJP faced flak, when it joined hands with the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) after the vertical split in the NCP in July 2023.
Incidentally, Fadnavis was one of the MLAs in the Opposition to lead the charge against Ajit Pawar on alleged graft and irregularities in the state irrigation department, under the former Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra.
“The impact of me raising the issue was that corruption was found, cases were registered against many people, chargesheets were filed, people went to prison and were even convicted in two cases. But from 2012 to 2024, none of the investigations and chargesheets named Ajit Pawar,” Fadnavis said.
“My allegation was not wrong. If it was wrong, so many people wouldn’t have gone to jail. My allegation was against Ajit Pawar, simply because he was the minister of the said department.”
Ajit Pawar is now a deputy chief minister, along with Fadnavis, in the Mahayuti government.
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‘BJP wanted Thane, but had to concede’
The Mahayuti alliance took a long time to hammer out the seat-sharing deal for Maharashtra’s 48 Lok Sabha seats, especially for constituencies, such as Mumbai South, Thane, Nashik and Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg.
Eventually, they arrived at a plan of 28 seats for the BJP, 15 for Shinde-led Shiv Sena, four for Ajit Pawar-led NCP, and one being contested by Rashtriya Samaj Paksha’s Mahadev Jankar.
“We wanted Mumbai South and Thane, but in negotiations, instead of Mumbai South, we took Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg. But, we did want Thane and were holding negotiations till the end,” Fadnavis said.
The Shinde-led Shiv Sena was insisting on the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat, which was won by the undivided Sena in 2019. The incumbent MP, Vinayak Raut, is with the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). The BJP has fielded Union Minister Narayan Rane — one of Shiv Sena’s oldest rebels, who joined the Congress in 2005, and eventually hopped to the BJP in 2019 — from the coastal constituency.
Mumbai South, which was also won by the undivided Shiv Sena the last time, is being fought by the Shinde-led Sena. With the incumbent MP, Arvind Sawant, being Shiv Sena (UBT)’s official candidate, the Shinde faction has nominated Yamini Jadhav for the seat.
Thane is, however, too close to Shinde’s heart, as it is his home turf. This seat, too, was won by the undivided Sena in 2019, and the sitting MP, Rajan Vichare, is also with the Thackeray faction and its official candidate.
“If you look at the situation there, the BJP has won the seat five times, and then the Shiv Sena has won it seven times. So, they were saying that though it is BJP’s seat, Anand Dighe saheb had won this seat for the Shiv Sena. CM Shinde said since he is the legatee of Anand Dighe, he would not be able to face his cadre or bring them enthusiasm, if he let the seat go. So ultimately, we took Palghar and gave them Thane,” said Fadnavis.
Late Sena leader Dighe, who the Maharashtra CM calls his mentor, is largely credited with expanding the Shiv Sena’s roots in Thane and its neighbouring regions, including Kalyan, Dombivli, Ambernath, and Bhiwandi. Dighe is said to have groomed Shinde, and after his death in 2001, Shiv Sena’s expanse in Thane became Shinde’s fiefdom.
‘It’s Modi vs Rahul’
In at least two seats in Mumbai, the Mahayuti has fielded candidates from Sena’s Shinde faction, against whom local BJP leaders had strongly raised allegations of corruption — Yamini Jadhav from Mumbai South and Ravindra Waikar from Mumbai North West.
Fadnavis, however, said that the party is telling its cadres and voters not to look at the individual candidate, and instead keep their eyes on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s victory.
“The decision of candidates was with Shiv Sena, Shinde ji. For us, the candidate is of no importance. Anybody who wins from Shiv Sena will win for Modi ji; anybody who will win from opposition parties will win for Rahul Gandhi. So, we have told our people there is no need to look at the candidate, you have to look at Modi ji. And people have started working. You will see that in both these seats, the BJP is campaigning with full might,” he said.
The deputy CM said that his party also had some explaining to do with voters and cadre, after joining hands with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, a traditional rival, especially in the western Maharashtra districts.
“But we explained to our people that we had to do this because of the way these people (Shiv Sena-UBT, Congress and Sharad Pawar faction of NCP) tried to isolate the prime minister during the Aghadi rule. In politics, we have to make such alliances,” he added.
”I have said this on record that our alliance with Sena is an emotional one. Our alliance with NCP is political. Maybe ten years later, that too will turn emotional, but it is not so today. Our voter is smart. He can understand that if Modi ji is to be re-elected PM, we have to show those isolating him that they can’t do that.”
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‘Reconciliation with Uddhav Thackeray unlikely’
Fadnavis said that personally, Uddhav Thackeray is not an enemy, but the BJP can not stay with him politically.
“When Uddhav Thackeray ji was unwell (he underwent a spine surgery, when he was CM), Modi ji — though they were political rivals at the time — used to call him almost every day, or every alternate day, to ask about his health or if he needs any help. But because he left behind Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideology, we can’t stay with him politically,” he explained.
The senior BJP leader, however, said that he doesn’t think there is any chance of reconciliation with Thackeray.
“In politics, one shouldn’t predict anything about the future, but how I see it now, I don’t think it can ever happen. Because political differences can end at any point of time, but the kind of personalised attacks they have made on Modi ji, the kind of street language they are using, our karyakartas will never want to take them along,” he added.
He also maintained that neither he nor his party had anything to do with the rebellion within the Shiv Sena and the NCP, and that the two regional parties split because of the egos of Thackeray, and Sharad Pawar, respectively. According to Fadnavis, Thackeray was wary of Eknath Shinde’s growth and popularity within the undivided Sena because he wanted to push his son, Aaditya, to take over the Thackeray legacy.
“He (Uddhav Thackeray) had started fearing that once again, a powerful leader like Narayan Rane is being created in the party, much like how it was, when he himself was politically launched… so they started the work of clipping Shinde’s wings,” Fadnavis said. Rane had walked out of the Shiv Sena, citing differences with Uddhav Thackeray.
“Shiv Sena split because of ‘family first’ ideology, while NCP split because of ‘first family first’,” said Fadnavis, referring to how Sharad Pawar preferred handing over his legacy to his daughter, Baramati MP Supriya Sule, over nephew Ajit Pawar.
‘Caste-based divide in four constituencies’
As Maharashtra nears the fifth and final phase of elections, Fadnavis is confident of winning all six Mumbai seats for the Mahayuti. He is, however, acutely aware of the challenges this election season.
For instance, in Marathwada, he said, at least four constituencies are witnessing a divide between two caste groups (Marathas and Other Backward Classes) as well as a possible consolidation of minority votes against the BJP.
“We have sincerely given reservation to Marathas. Now, I don’t know what will make their leader, Manoj Jarange Patil, happy. We are trying to find out. If it is possible within the framework, we will try to do it. It has been very unfortunate that this time, in at least four constituencies, we have seen absolute vertical divide between two communities in Marathwada. The caste divide is very bad for the social fabric of Maharashtra. The way it has happened, its scars will remain for a long time,” Fadnavis said.
Jalna-based Jarange Patil has been agitating for inclusion of Marathas in the OBC quota as Kunbis, who are already availing reservation benefits in government jobs and education under this category.
The leader also said that the Opposition has “succeeded in creating fears among minorities”, and that the Shiv Sena (UBT) is tapping the minorities vote bank to attempt to bridge the deficit in their votes because of the split.
“Uddhav Shiv Sena feels that it is the only vote bank that can save them, and that is why they have created a sense of fear amongst minorities. We have tried to convey to these communities that our basic approach is different from theirs. They say that the first right on resources is that of Muslims. We say the first right on resources is that of the poor. When we talk about the poor, even minorities are included,” he said.
Fadnavis added that he will not be moving to the Centre, and is here to stay in the Maharashtra political landscape “at least for some time”.
“In my party, I don’t decide. My party decides. But knowing my party and considering the situation in Maharashtra, I think, for some more time — don’t know for how long — but I am staying here,” he said.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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