‘Pawar trying hard to revive NCP-Cong but it won’t make a difference’
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) youth wing chief and two-term Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai North Central, Poonam Mahajan, spoke to Kumar Uttam about the party’s prospects, the alliance with the Shiv Sena, and Sharad Pawar as leader of the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance that is trying to stop the BJP-Shiv Sena from winning a second term.
How is the BJP placed in the assembly election?
We are winning the assembly elections hands down. We have received support across Maharashtra because of the combined work of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The biggest challenge for the Congress and the NCP is that people do not have faith in their leadership. The situation is different with the BJP. PM Modi has given importance to clear accountability by our governments and our leaders. Our schemes and development work have helped us gain the trust of every section of society. I am sure the BJP will do far better than 2014, and will form a stronger government in the state. Fadnavis will take over as CM once again.
The BJP did not have an alliance with Shiv Sena in the previous election. The two parties are together this time. What difference will this alliance make?
We have been connected by the core ideology of Hindutva. Both the BJP and the Shiv Sena are on the same page on many issues. Though we fought separately in the last assembly elections, we came together and ran a government to provide a strong model of development.
The alliance of two parties will surely add up to the alliance’s massive victory in this assembly election.
Is there any target that the BJP has set for itself in the assembly election?
Based on development works done in the past five years, our party has set a clear target of increasing its tally this time.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar is fighting a pitched battle in Maharashtra. Do you think he is going to make any difference to the BJP’s plan?
It is unfortunate that Sharad Pawar has to handle the elections for both the Congress and the NCP at this age. It only shows that there is hollowness in the leadership in both the opposition parties.
He is trying his best to revive both the parties, but it won’t make any difference to their tally as people are supporting the Mahayuti [the alliance] and the work we have done in the state.
The BJP has tried to win support of the Maratha community, which has traditionally voted for the NCP and the Congress. How successful have you been in that?
Every community contributes to society, but when it comes to government policy, we don’t believe in politicising a particular community or caste. Antyodaya [upliftment of the most backward] is one of our main guiding philosophies.
We work towards ensuring that every single person is uplifted with development.
Will job losses and economic slowdown have any impact in this election?
Right now, the entire world is facing the problems of an economic slowdown and if you look at India in that context, we are doing far better than any of the big economies. As far as the jobs are concerned, India has seen a rise in the field of informal job creations where skill has been given a priority with schemes like Skill India, Startup India and entrepreneurs supported with important schemes like Mudra. We, as a young nation, have a huge population of youngsters that now aspires not just be job seekers but to move towards becoming job creators.