Maharashtra revenue minister and senior BJP leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil exclusively spoke with Sudhir Suryawanshi in the midst of the Maharashtra Assembly election campaign. Excerpts:
The Maharashtra Assembly election campaign is at its zenith and you are travelling the state as the senior leader. What do the ground reports indicate and what feedback are you getting?
The political scenario in Maharashtra is changing considerably. The Mahayuti lagged in the recent Lok Sabha elections due to a fake narrative by the Maha Vikas Aghadi, but now the scenario has changed. People understood that they were taken for a ride in the Lok Sabha elections. Things are changing for good, we are not only bridging the gap but we are marching ahead now. The BJP and Mahayuti are in a better position in the state.
Our agenda of welfare schemes and financial assistance to farmers is resonating on the ground. People want a government that cares for them, not the crippled MVA government where chief minister Uddhav Thackeray was only available on Facebook.
Uddhav Thackeray’s work during the pandemic was appreciated and he even received the best chief minister award, not once but a couple of times. How do you see this then?
Him receiving the best Chief Minister award was beyond our comprehension. I felt that it was a stage-managed show as he failed miserably as Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
What strategies are working on the ground or turning out to be game changers?
In 2.5 years of the Mahayuti government, several people welfare schemes were started. Compared to MVA government schemes, Mahayuti has far better footing. Our schemes like Ladli Bahena, Shravan Bal, financial help for senior citizens, compensations for soybean and cotton farmers are being talked about by people on the ground while the MVA has nothing that people are talking about.
This is a major difference between the Mahayuti and the MVA governments. We worked for the people while they worked for themselves. Besides, the Ladli Bahena scheme will be a game changer in this election. In several years of my political career, I never saw women show up to political rallies in such large numbers. But our scheme empowered the women and the result is visible.
It is happening for the first time in Maharashtra and that is a major concern for the MVA because they never expected this outcome. So they went to court to stop this successful and popular scheme. Now, under the Bhagyalaxmi scheme, the Congress is offering Rs 3000 for poor and needy women. This move is contradictory and hypocritical. The MVA was exposed because of this scheme.
Our one rupee crop insurance scheme and provision of free electricity are also successful among farmers. In state politics, performance matters, therefore, the Mahayuti will come back to power with a huge majority.
Do you know the numbers that the Mahayuti and BJP will get in this election or are there any internal survey reports that show the current trend?
The BJP alone will cross 120 seats in the 288-member state assembly and, with the alliance partners, we may cross 160-165 seats in this election. This will be a bigger achievement.
Will the next Chief Minister be from the BJP? Your name has also been floated as a serious contender for the chief minister post. What are your thoughts?
I am very happy where I am today. The trust shown in me by our PM, Union home minister and state leadership is my motivation. Whether or not my name is discussed for chief minister has no relevance. The answer to the first question is that the CM will be from the Mahayuti and our leadership will take a decision after the polling.
What about the agrarian distress, the falling prices of soybean and cotton that is below the MSP? How are you going to tackle the issue?
The market situation is the reason we gave compensation to cotton and soybean farmers. The government has already started procurement centres for soybean where products are purchased at government rate. Prior to the Lok Sabha election, there was a disconnect with farmers, particularly onion farmers, and that impacted the election result as well. We got a big hit on that but things have changed. The government has intervened and started procurement centres.
The Prime Minister’s economic advisory council has recently submitted its report where it has stated that Maharashtra’s per capita income and GDP growth has declined in the last decade, which was mostly during the BJP’s regime? What is your take on it?
I have no doubt over the authenticity of the report. But if we see the total scenario of Maharashtra, more foreign direct investment is coming and that is creating job opportunities. We should not worry much about the GDP issue; we are the number one state in all aspects. The government of India is talking of a four trillion dollar economy while Maharashtra’s contribution is a one trillion dollar economy. So, we will achieve the target and the state will march ahead with high GDP growth.
The Maharashtra election kick-started with BJP’s slogan, ‘Batenge toh katenge’ but PM Narendra Modi countered it with, ‘Ek hai toh safe hai’. Which is the better slogan, the one coined by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath or that of the PM?
Our honourable PM's statement ‘Ek Hai to Safe Hai’ is more appealing. This slogan is accepted by all sections of society because of its inclusiveness. There is not a single negative comment over his slogan.
The BJP focuses on shat pratishat BJP (100 percent BJP) but in Maharashtra, it is standing on the shoulders of its two alliance partners. How do you see this change?
Since 1995, the BJP has been in an alliance with the Shiv Sena and RPI (Athawale Group), so the BJP does want to grow but it wants to grow with alliance partners. Therefore, it is not shat pratishat BJP, but it is shat pratishat alliance.
In the Lok Sabha elections, vote transfer was a major issue in the Mahayuti, which was pointed out by RSS mouthpiece Organiser and Marathi weekly magazine Vivek. What corrective measures have been taken now?
If you ask me personally, I do not agree with the observations by Vivek magazine about vote transfer and alliance with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. The alliance with Ajit Pawar was not the reason we lost the majority of seats in the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra. It was because of the narrative set by the opposition that the BJP is anti-reservation and will change the Constitution that hurt our performance. However, in reality nothing like that happened and people realised it now. So they will correct their stand in the state polls where local issues will have an impact. Besides, all three parties in alliance worked by arranging joint rallies of workers for better synergy.
Sympathy towards Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar was palpable during the Lok Sabha elections. Is that sympathy still there on the ground for the state polls ?
With all due respect for both Pawar and Thackeray, people have lost faith in them as the MVA performance was a disaster and it miserably failed to meet the expectations of the people. When they were at the helm of affairs, they could not turn around people's lives and left them in the lurch during the pandemic and later as well. Why should people believe them now? Ideologically, all compromises have been made by Uddhav Thackeray for Muslim voters. Just by blaming the BJP, they cannot escape from their responsibility.
