We want to fight corruption and dynastic politics: Mahadev Jankar

Do you miss Gopinath Munde?
Munde saheb was a father figure to me. But Pankaja taai (Munde's daughter) and I are trying to fill the void created by his demise. His supporters are looking at us for leadership. Six lakh people had turned up at one of our recent rallies. This shows that the bahujan samaj is inclined towards us and has faith in us.

Why has your politics largely been anti-Pawar?
I have no personal grudge, but I'm against the kind of politics he practises. Pawar saheb has given secondary status to the bahujan samaj and uses names of Shahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar to gain benefits for his nephew (Ajit Pawar) and daughter (MP Supriya Sule). He pretends to be a secular leader. There is no leader as casteist as Pawar who ensured that only those from a certain caste benefits. We are opposed to this.

Why tie up with Modi when he did not campaign for you during LS polls?
It is not that Pawar and Modi share a great rapport. Modi will target the NCP during assembly elections. Recently, Amit Shah (BJP's national president) had taken on the Pawars. NCP is our numero uno rival. Though Modi did not come to Baramati, he had held a rally for me along with three other Lok Sabha poll candidates in Pune.

Will he campaign for you this time?
Yes. Modi saheb is going to campaign for our party candidates in Daund (Pune), Maan (Satara) and Gangakhed (Parbhani).

Has BJP offered you a role in Delhi?
I have always had the offer of a Rajya Sabha slot. I try to get things based on my merit, rather than demand. If the BJP feels need of RSP's MLAs, it will give us due share in power. But our priority right now is to win seats.

Will you be part of the a BJP-NCP post-poll alliance?
I believe the alliance between the BJP and RSP, RPI(A), Shiv Sangram, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana will certainly achieve the magic figure of 145 seats. We will not require NCP's support.

What is your agenda?
We want to fight corruption and dynastic politics. Prithviraj Chavan (former CM) claims to have clean image but has protected corrupt ministers. You can't hold NCP alone responsible. We are partners with the BJP, and a stakeholder for its good as well as bad governance. We are going to expose such people during the campaign.

We are also for reservation to Dhangar community. The Chavan-led government did not do, but we will for sure.