‘Not facing a tough …ght... this is not my last poll’

It will be a one-sided contest with victory for BJP, says Union Minister contesting from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency in Maharashtra; he says the people are ready to support projects like re…nery in Barsu and the nuclear power plant in Jaitapur

Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Narayan Rane is contesting the Lok Sabha election as a BJP candidate from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency in Maharashtra. He is pitted against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and twotime MP Vinayak Raut.

Mr. Rane spoke about the issues he is focusing on in this poll. Edited excerpts:

You are contesting elections after 10 years.

But I have been a Rajya Sabha MP and a Minister as well. I am not sitting idle.

Your son Nilesh Rane had contested the seat

previously.

Yes, and he became an MP once [in 2009].

Given that Nilesh lost in the 2014 and 2019 polls, are you facing a tough ‹ght this time?

It will be a one-sided contest with victory for the BJP. I don’t have a tough “ght here.

In the Konkan region, one big issue is unemployment and the other is the farm crisis.

There is de“nitely poverty here, but not like that in Marathwada or Khandesh. This is a coastal area, so a lot of “shing activity goes on here. Mango, cashew, jackfruit... so many fruits are exported from here. Today’s youth are in this business.

We want to bring the industry here. About 90% of the children are educated.

They study here and migrate to Mumbai or Pune, which should not happen. They should stay back. This is our aim.

There have been protests against projects such as the re‹nery in Barsu and the nuclear power plant in Jaitapur.

It is only Vinayak Raut and his leader Uddhav Thackeray who are opposing it. People are ready to support these projects.

Does Mr. Thackeray have any sympathy

among voters?

What has Uddhavji done? There are corruption charges against him for work done during the pandemic. Why should he get sympathy? He does not even follow Balasaheb’s [Thackeray] ideology. Balasaheb protected Hindutva all his life. To become CM, he [Uddhav] betrayed [the BJP] and went along with Sharad Pawar and the Congress. He is a liar, abuses people, and a bad person. You people [the media] have been drawing sympathy towards him.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) has also promised to set up major projects.

How many MPs does it have? Five. After this election how many will it have? Zero. How will they come to power?

What are the local and national issues you are

focusing on?

International, national, all issues. Modiji has said we have to win over 400 seats to develop India. The Indian economy should stand third in the world after the U.S. and China. We are attempting to do this.

Do you feel it took a lot of time to announce your candidature?

No. I was told to start working [on my campaign] and I did so 15 days before my name was announced.

You have said in some interviews that this is your last election.

No, I never said that. Some journalists said it.

Will you stand as a candidate again?

Why should I talk about the future? We’ll talk about it when the time comes.