“Demonetisation has affected all political parties except the BJP. It has definitely affected the country’s economy. There is no money. Except BJP, no other political party has any money. In fact, my party, we haven’t been able to give a single ad for these elections. BJP was fully aware of what decision will be taken and when it will be taken. The West Bengal Chief Minister has details of how, just four days before demonetisation, a few crore rupees were deposited in BJP’s account in Kolkata. They knew what was going to happen. They prepared for it. So, they aren’t facing any problems. Whereas we are all facing problems. There is no publicity material, no advertisements, no public meetings. Even public meetings require money. They have a cost. Till today, I haven’t addressed a single public meeting. Am going to address my first meeting today,” he said.
Adding that the demonetisation operation was successful, he said the government failed miserably in after-care. “The operation has been successful, but there is no aftercare. The economy is suffering. The government should have taken care to make currency available to people,” he said.
“The worst hit are the poor and the lower middle class. Agriculture, cottage, small scale industries have been hugely affected by demonetisation,” he added.
He accused the Central government of playing with the emotions of the common people. “There was no discontent when the decision was taken. People thought that black money will be weeded out. They were hopeful that the government will deposit Rs 10 to Rs 15 lakh each in their Jan Dhan accounts. But today, I see two queues outside the banks. One is to withdraw money. The other is to inquire about the cash deposited by the government in their accounts. I think, the policymakers, decision makers should not play with the common people like this,” he said.
Answering questions on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, he said that he hoped to see Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi win there. “Akhilesh is a technocrat. He has a modern outlook for the progress of his state. Rahul Gandhi has seen the whole world. I will be happy if they get an opportunity. They will provide development-oriented politics in UP, and not one based on caste and religion,” he said.
Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray found support from unusual quarters. Strongly condemning BJP’s demand of banning Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana for three days, Pawar warned of an agitation. “BJP is showing its true colours by demanding this ban. It was a party which fought against the Emergency in the good old days. It has continuously demanded freedom of press. Any government which is going to misuse authority and ban anyone, people will not tolerate this. If there is a ban, we will start an agitation. This is a basic individual freedom,” he said. This is the first time he has talked of holding an agitation against the ban.
“This is an absolutely wrong demand. The person who is going to write, has every right to express his views. This shouldn’t have been proposed. There shouldn’t be a ban,” he said.
He also categorically denied any possibility of supporting the BJP in case of mid-term polls are held in Maharashtra. “Now, we want this government should go. We have given them enough opportunity. We are convinced, the way they are handling farmers’ problems, other problems. They must go,” he said without mincing any words.
When asked if Maharashtra was indeed facing the possibility of mid-term elections, he said, “Today, these kinds of statements (about the breaking of the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance) are coming from the leaders who hold such positions that the fate of government depends on them. When people had asked me two years ago about my assessment of the performance of the alliance, I had predicted that it will last for two years till elections to BMC are held. Shiv Sena will never leave control of BMC. BJP will make efforts to control it. Sena won’t digest it. Today, that is exactly what has happened.”
When asked who, he thought, would win in the Mumbai elections, he said, “I will give number one to Sena. It will be the single largest party. The fight is clearly between Shiv Sena and BJP. I can’t say if Sena will single-handedly come to power. I can’t even say my party will reap benefits from this fighting. We have not yet developed that kind of organisational strength in Mumbai.”
Answering a query on why NCP had failed to create a voter base in Mumbai despite being in power in Maharashtra for 15 years, he said, “See, one has to understand the voter base for each party. NCP’s voter base is rural Maharashtra, farming community. Our concentration is on agriculture, farming. Also, the primary voter of NCP is the Marathi-speaking population. In Mumbai, we didn’t give enough attention to strengthening NCP. Also, the space of Marathi-speaking population was already taken by Shiv Sena much before NCP was formed. That voter base was already consolidated by Balasaheb Thackeray.”
When asked why he wanted the current BJP government in Maharashtra to fall, he targeted Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. He charged that the CM had failed to maintain the dignity of his post, and had let down the political tradition of Maharashtra. “What is this government? They aren’t performing at all. Every day, you see CM and Thackeray abusing each other. Is this the prestige of Maharashtra? The way the CM is talking, attacking others. He is the head of the state. It is his moral responsibility to maintain the dignity of his office. We don’t see that.”
This correspondent told him that the Sena felt apprehensive about his statement that he would not support BJP government. “For Uddhav, am willing to give it in writing. My Maharashtra party president, my leaders of opposition, will sign a letter and submit to the Governor that they will not support BJP if Sena withdraws support. But we want Uddhav too to submit a letter to the Governor saying he will withdraw his support to the Maharashtra government.”