MAN OF ACTION
Devendra Fadnavis on the Lok Sabha win, the BJP-Sena alliance and challenges before his givernment
When he took over as Maharashtra chief minister in October 2014, the highest post
DEVENDRA FADNAVIS, 49, had held till then was that of Nagpur mayor. But the four-time BJP MLA and former party president has proved equal to the task despite multiple challenges, such as the widespread agrarian distress in the state, the Maratha agitation, the Dalit uprising and the constant sniping by alliance partner Shiv Sena. However, keeping the BJP-Sena alliance intact for the Lok Sabha earned a rich dividend—41 of the state’s 48 parliamentary seats. Fadnavis and the alliance are now frontrunners in the assembly poll due in October. In an exclusive interview to Group Editorial Director RAJ CHENGAPPA and Senior Associate Editor
KIRAN D. TARE in Mumbai, Fadnavis spoke on a range of issues. Excerpts:
QWhat were the main factors behind the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance’s win of 41 of Maharashtra’s 48 seats this Lok Sabha election? The credit goes to Mr Modi. The way he has governed for five years has had a huge impact on the minds of the people. For the first time, they had a direct attachment to the leader. A huge wave for the PM was visible. Maharashtra, too, faced many crises in the past four and a half years. But we turned those crises into opportunities with our decisions. That is why there was a lot of positivity among the people.
Q. Will people differentiate between the prime minister’s performance at the Centre and Devendra Fadnavis’s governance in the state while voting in the assembly election four months from now?
I don’t think there will be any difference because we have had elections in Maharashtra every year in the past four and a half years and won every one of them. We have passed a test every six months. And with merit. The municipal corporation elections, the municipal council elections, the zila parishad polls, the gram panchayat elections. I don’t think anything is going to change. In fact, all those fence-sitters wondering whether we could repeat our performance will now be on our side.
Q. Including Congress MLAs? You got the leader of the opposition to join the BJP.
Many fence-sitters within the Congress and the NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) want to come to the BJP and Sena, of course. We are evaluating those who have a good image in public. We are open to them.
Q. You had a torrid relationship with the Shiv Sena before the Lok Sabha election. Did the alliance with the party help?
It did. I think, basically, both parties knew they had a common voter base. Separation would have divided our votes. Especially as the opposition was forming an alliance of 56 parties. And, mostly, we never had ideological differences; all the differences were on issues. So when the alliance was announced, I told the media, I don’t know the proper word for it, but this proved to be a deadly combination. We got more than 50 per cent votes.
Q. You agreed to 50:50 seat sharing for the assembly election. Would you still respect that agreement?
I don’t think we are going to go back on that. Although, yes, we do feel that if we contest more seats, it will be favourable to us and we can win more seats. But you know you cannot have both things at the same time. What is convenient for the Lok Sabha may not be the case for the Vidhan Sabha. In fact, the last time we broke away, we never wanted to do it. Let me tell you, it was only on four seats. Frankly speaking, we were giving them 147 seats and keeping 127 seats for ourselves (out of a total of 288 assembly seats). Our friends were insisting on 151 seats. Now, much has happened and both of us have understood that you have to make compromises in a relationship. We have now, mostly, made up our mind that we want to do it together. Our first target is to win 220 seats in the assembly election and I am confident we will do so.
Q. Given that both partners will be contesting an equal number of seats, will you be willing to concede the post of Deputy CM to the Sena or will the Sena want the chief ministership by rotation?
We are absolutely open to offering them the post of Deputy CM. In fact, even now, we have offered it to them. Even while discussing the alliance, I had told them that if they wanted a Sena deputy chief minister, we were open to it. As far as the post of the chief minister is concerned, I don’t think we have agreed on any formula that it will be for two and a half years or go to whoever gets more seats. We will decide that when the time comes.
Q. You have had back-to-back droughts in Maharashtra and the agrarian distress is quite evident. Will it impact your chances in the state election?
There is no denying there is huge agrarian distress. Of the past five years, four were drought-affected. There is large-scale distress. At the same time, the way we have
As for the CM post, we have not agreed on any formula for the assembly poll, whether to rotate it between the BJP and Sena or give it to whoever gets more seats. We will decide when the time comes
managed the drought has made a difference. Usually, in a drought year, the compensation paid to farmers would be only between April and June. This time, we had paid the entire compensation by December. While the central government gave Rs 4,700 crore, we also put in our own money. We are paying more than Rs 5,000 crore as compensation and Rs 3,200 crore as insurance payout.
Q. Have the payments to farmers helped?
Yes. Never before in this state was so much money paid to the farmers. And, again, in a good year, whenever there was a good crop, we actually procured almost all of it, making the payment directly into the farmers’ accounts. If you look at the total payouts in the 15 years of earlier governments, the insurance payouts had been around Rs 3,500 crore. We have paid Rs 12,000 crore in four years. The same is the case with direct payments. Not only that, if you look at the cattle camps, we have increased the amount per animal. We are taking practical decisions everywhere. We are providing water through tankers. We have created emergency water supply schemes. I did audio bridges with sarpanches to assess their grievances and responded to them immediately. They were so happy because never in their life had anybody at this level contacted them. With this proactive working style, people realised that here is a government that wants to work.
Q. Critics says water scarcity in the state is a result of mismanagement in terms of crops prioritisation. For instance, the Dhanegaon dam was 100 per cent full the previous year. Today, it is empty because most of the water went to sugarcane cultivation. Is there nothing you can do to curb this?
We are doing that. See, we cannot discourage sugarcane farming because it is one of the most sustainable crops. There is an assured market for sugarcane. That is why farmers are moving towards its cultivation. It is absolutely correct that it is a water-guzzling crop. But today, there are new technologies
Everything is moving at a very fast pace. The Pune metro, the Nagpur metro, hybrid annuity roads, our national highways...
like drip irrigation. Earlier, people were averse to drip and micro irrigation because they thought it affected productivity. But with new varieties, cropping patterns and drip irrigation, productivity is increasing by one and a half times. The only solution is to put all sugarcane farming on drip or micro irrigation. Our focus in the next three years will be on ethanol. That can change the entire economy of agriculture. As far as going for ethanol is concerned, our problem is that the investment capacity of all sugar mills has been exhausted. We have to give them new investment capacities.
Q. What about water conservation itself? Our water conservation programme, the Jal Yukta Shivar, has been the most successful. It has changed not only the way water conservation works were conceived but also the mindset of the people. Today, if you go to rural areas, everybody is aware of water conservation, keen to do it and is participating in the efforts. The average rainfall in Marathwada this time is below 50 per cent and it is 70 per cent of normal in the entire state. There should have been massive distress. However, it is only because of water conservation efforts that our wells have water.
Q. But the scheme has been widely criticised for not being scientific.
There is no dearth of experts in our country with diverse opinions. We should respect them all. I won’t criticise anybody. Fortunately for us, the Bombay High Court constituted an expert committee with IIT and other institutions in response to one petition that said the scheme was unscientific. And if you look at the report, it shows that it has been done in a most scientific way. It shows how the water table has increased, how we have managed to sustain it despite low rainfall. The report is self-evident. So, instead of listening to everybody, let us go by the experts nominated by court. In Latur district, the lowest rainfall was in Nilanga. But you can still find water in the structures that we built. Even today, you can swim in them. That has been the kind of success we have had.
Q. Infrastructure is another area where your government claims to have done a lot of work. What is the progress on the Mumbai-Nagpur expressway? Fortunately, work on that road has begun. Construction is in full swing. The base work should be almost complete by the end of June. It is going at a phenomenal speed. All packages are ahead of schedule. In two years, the road will be ready. Then there will be 22 nodes. The creation of a node is a seven-year job. That is absolutely on time. My other infrastructure projects like the Mumbai metro are also on time. We have already begun work on the trans-harbour line. Coastal road work has begun. You can see that the Navi Mumbai airport work is on in full swing. It might be delayed by a couple of months because of certain issues but not beyond it. Everything is moving at a fast pace...the Pune metro, the Nagpur metro, hybrid annuity roads, our national highways... everything is moving very fast.
Q. Maharashtra is the industrial hub of the country. Have the MoUs signed at Magnetic Maharashtra resulted in investments?
Both Make in India and Magnetic Maharashtra have been very, very successful. Our rate of conversion of
Yes, there has been agrarian distress. But, never before in this state was so much money paid to farmers—Rs 12,000 crore in four years
MoUs into actual investment has been unprecedented. Otherwise, too, if you look cumulatively, then our rate of conversion of MoUs has been the highest in the country. We have been hugely successful in attracting foreign direct investment. Before 2014, Maharashtra was number four and our average was 11 per cent of the total FDI into the country. Now, we are number one and the average is over 40 per cent.
Q. Corruption has always been a big issue in the state. What measures have you taken to tackle it?
We maintained transparency from the beginning. We took many decisions. Right to Services was one of our initiatives. If you look at its implementation, tens of millions of people have got their work done in the stipulated time. There was big centralisation earlier which too results in corruption. So, a lot of decentralisation was done. Secondly, it begins from the top. People know you are serious and you want transparency. Then it starts percolating down.
Q. Your tenure saw a huge agitation by the Marathas for reservation. Are they satisfied with what you have done for them?
There was a big agitation and, yes, towards the end, there was violence in a few areas, but it was blown out of proportion. However, we took it seriously. We started a dialogue with them. And things which were correct and logical and which needed to be done, we did. Without a single shot being fired, without a single lathi-charge. I won’t say we sorted out each and every issue they wanted. Nobody can do all that, but at least they got the feeling that ours was a serious government and did what was possible.
Q. Who was the culprit in the Koregaon-Bhima case? Did you lose the Dalit vote because of that?
I don’t think we lost anything among the Dalits. Yes, it was serious, but now the conspiracy is being revealed. All the documents we seized from the so-called urban Naxals show that it was their design to make it appear as though it was a fight between the Dalits and Savarnas. It was not the case. Even on that day, we took everyone present there for darshan till 11 in the night. We also assisted them in going back; the aftermath, too, was controlled in a day. But, yes, I would say that it was a very unfortunate incident. It created ill will, to some extent, among the Dalits. But, ultimately, with all the revelations that are coming out, I think people now largely understand that there was a deliberate design behind the violence.
Q. What are you doing to curb the problem of so-called urban Maoism that is said to have spread to big cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Aurangabad?
The earlier governments did not act on it. That is why this menace has spread. It has entered university campuses, it has entered cities. We have dealt with it in a very strong manner. All our actions have been vindicated by the Supreme Court. Although liberals in this country have created a huge ruckus and tried to portray the situation as if we have arrested innocent people. We have given all the evidence we had to the apex court. The Supreme Court is convinced.
Q. Do you have evidence against the prominent alleged urban Naxals you have arrested?
Absolutely. They were in direct touch with Kashmiri separatists. Not only in touch, they are working in coordination with Naxal elements operating in forests who are actually gunning down people. In some cases, they are actually involved in the procurement of arms and ammunition. We have more evidence against those who have been arrested.
Q. There is a charge-sheet against Sadhvi Pragya Singh in Maharashtra. Now that she has become an MP, will you still pursue the case?
Becoming an MP does not change the status. The NIA is pressing charges against her. The NIA court has to give its decision. It is totally in the judicial domain. We have nothing to do with it. As far as the allegations are concerned, I have advised her that if she has a grievance she should write to us. Make an official complaint. If something is said on TV, we cannot take cognizance of it. If she files a complaint, it will be evaluated fairly.
Q. What about her statement against the late ATS chief, Hemant Karkare?
That was absolutely terrible. I have condemned it. She might have a grievance against the ATS (Anti Terror
The earlier governments did not act on the problem of urban Maoism, resulting in its spread. It has entered university campuses, cities. We have dealt with it in a very strong manner. All our actions have been vindicated by the Supreme Court
ism Squad). Hemant Karkare is a martyr. She should not have said that.
Q. The public prosecutor in the case has alleged that she was under pressure to go slow on the case. Are you going to investigate that?
If you look at the material, it is absolutely evident that these people have been framed. It was a narrative that they (opposition) wanted to float. That was the time a lot of people from the minority community were arrested. ISIS activities were at their peak. There was huge resentment among the minorities that their boys were being picked up. So the Congress-NCP government realised that the entire minority community was going against them. Instead of taking corrective action, they adopted a different route. They created this narrative of Hindu terror. We don’t believe in Islamic terrorism. We don’t believe that every Muslim is a terrorist. Not at all. This Islamic terror terminology was not generated from India. It was generated globally because of ISIS. They (the opposition) created the narrative of Hindu terror to counter that. They thought it would satisfy the minorities. They created all these cases out of that. Who coined the term ‘Hindu terror’? Mr Sharad Pawar, Mr Sushilkumar Shinde and Mr Digvijaya Singh.
Q. You are also accused of having started a memorial culture with big statues of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Dr Ambedkar. You are said to be investing huge sums of money when there is a shortage of funds.
We can look at it in perspective. Ultimately, every civilisation survives on identity. You cannot have spineless people. There are certain things we feel proud about. That makes a community strong. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj has created this state. He showed the entire country what freedom is. That is why everybody wanted a big memorial of him on the Arabian Sea. And Dr B.R. Ambedkar was cremated at Dadar. There was a demand for many years that his memorial be erected on the mill land nearby.
Q. You never really had any experience of running a government before you took over as CM in 2014. How did you cope?
There were always challenges, but I did not run away from them. I faced every challenge. You find solutions when you fearlessly face them. We brought a lot of credibility to governance too. If you look at the infrastructure projects, how could I do what the earlier governments could not? Because we created mechanisms like a war room, where every single project was tracked. The biggest problem in urban infrastructure projects is the number of departments involved and the movement of files. Here, every single stake-holder has to be present and decisions are taken then and there. There has to be a timeline. This has resulted in the success of these infrastructure projects. We changed the style of governance. In Jal Yukta Shivar, I was constantly talking to our collectors. We managed to construct 60 lakh toilets in Maharashtra in just three years and make the state open-defecation free. We have already constructed three lakh houses. We are on the verge of constructing five lakh houses in rural areas. All this could happen because of constant tracking and trouble-shooting.
Q. What has your tenure taught you about governance?
Every decision and its consequence made me more mature. There were lessons to be learned out of every decision. Many times I discovered that I may have taken a decision with good intentions but there were people out there who would always challenge it. They would always question your intent. Earlier, I would get quite disturbed. Now, I don’t because I always tell myself that when I am doing something for a good cause and have no ill intentions, why should I worry. That helps you take firm decisions. This ultimately results in action on the ground. On the personal front, I don’t have time for my young daughter. It is a great personal loss. There is no family life as such.
Q. What is the one big personal lesson you have learned as chief minister?
The only thing that I have learned is that you need to have patience. It is the key to everything. Have patience in any adverse situation.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh’s becoming an MP does not change the status of the charges the NIA is pressing against her. The NIA court has to give its decision. It is totally in the judicial domain. We have nothing to do with it
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