ET BureauMaharashtra is heating up as the polls for the state assembly nears, but the Sena salvo projecting supremo Uddhav Thackeray as the chief ministerial candidate raised the temperature even further. Sena has since dragged its feet on that claim, but ally BJP is beginning to respond in kind. In an exclusive interaction with ET, BJP state chief Devendra Fadnavis ups the ante further as he insists that even a Shiv Sena CM candidate will have to come approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Excerpts:
The bypoll results have not been good for the BJP. Is the Modi magic on the wane?
Historically, in politics, people vote for the sitting government in the byelections. In the past, we have seen this happen in MP and Karnataka, where the ruling party won the byepolls but lost power in a year.
In Maharashtra, are the bypolls a setback for those BJP leaders who wanted to end alliance with Sena?
We have always clarified that we will contest with the Sena, because it is an alliance of ideology and not of political compulsion. Even though most opinion polls have been projecting a BJP win if we go it alone, our reaction has always been that the Sena is a trusted ally.
The seat sharing talks are being seen as nothing but an attempt to see which party gets more seats so that it can have its CM…
I don’t think it is related to the CM’s post. The BJP and Sena leaders have already discussed before the Lok Sabha elections that we won’t fight on a formula of whose CM would be elected or who should be projected as it disturbs the whole alliance.
But Sena has been unilaterally projecting Uddhav as its CM candidate
No, a few leaders have unilaterally done it, but Uddhav Thackeray who is the only person with authority in the Sena, has time and again clarified that a CM candidate and leader of the alliance would be discussed and decided only at the meeting of alliance partners. As of now there is no CM candidate from both parties. In our case, the ultimate decision on our leader or our allies leader will have to be ratified or decided by the PM and the parliamentary board.
So you are saying that Modi will decide who the CM candidate of Maharashtra will be?
Yes, in a hypothetical situation, if a Sena candidate is to be nominated as CM, the PM and our parliamentary board have to give a nod.
Many in BJP feel the party would have been well served if you had been named the CM candidate…
So far I have never demanded nor asked for a bigger role because my current responsibilities are very important and I am trying to do justice to the role.
Names of Eknath Khadse, Nitin Gadkari are doing the rounds…
They are senior leaders, they are capable of becoming the CM.
The bypoll results have not been good for the BJP. Is the Modi magic on the wane?
Historically, in politics, people vote for the sitting government in the byelections. In the past, we have seen this happen in MP and Karnataka, where the ruling party won the byepolls but lost power in a year.
In Maharashtra, are the bypolls a setback for those BJP leaders who wanted to end alliance with Sena?
We have always clarified that we will contest with the Sena, because it is an alliance of ideology and not of political compulsion. Even though most opinion polls have been projecting a BJP win if we go it alone, our reaction has always been that the Sena is a trusted ally.
The seat sharing talks are being seen as nothing but an attempt to see which party gets more seats so that it can have its CM…
I don’t think it is related to the CM’s post. The BJP and Sena leaders have already discussed before the Lok Sabha elections that we won’t fight on a formula of whose CM would be elected or who should be projected as it disturbs the whole alliance.
But Sena has been unilaterally projecting Uddhav as its CM candidate
No, a few leaders have unilaterally done it, but Uddhav Thackeray who is the only person with authority in the Sena, has time and again clarified that a CM candidate and leader of the alliance would be discussed and decided only at the meeting of alliance partners. As of now there is no CM candidate from both parties. In our case, the ultimate decision on our leader or our allies leader will have to be ratified or decided by the PM and the parliamentary board.
So you are saying that Modi will decide who the CM candidate of Maharashtra will be?
Yes, in a hypothetical situation, if a Sena candidate is to be nominated as CM, the PM and our parliamentary board have to give a nod.
Many in BJP feel the party would have been well served if you had been named the CM candidate…
So far I have never demanded nor asked for a bigger role because my current responsibilities are very important and I am trying to do justice to the role.
Names of Eknath Khadse, Nitin Gadkari are doing the rounds…
They are senior leaders, they are capable of becoming the CM.
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