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Terming the current recalibrations in the Maharashtra local body elections as “hiccups” or “disruptions”, Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) leader Supriya Sule said that the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc would hold up in the 2029 Lok Sabha election.
In an exclusive conversation with The Hindu on the background to the upcoming municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra, she accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of becoming “Congress yukt” (to include) and not “Congress mukt” (free of). Ms. Sule also levelled allegations of fiscal mismanagement on the Maharashtra government. She spoke on the current political alignments in the State, and speculations over reunification of the Pawar family politically, among other issues.
In Maharashtra, her party, which is the Opposition, has joined hands with her cousin Ajit Pawar’s party (NCP-AP), a part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, to fight the forthcoming municipal corporation elections in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. Last week, Ms. Sule and Mr. Ajit Pawar were seen sharing a stage together, after a gap of over two years, at the launch of their manifesto for the elections, fuelling speculation about the reunification of the NCP factions that had split over two years ago.
The third phase of local body elections will be held in Maharashtra on January 15, when 29 municipal corporations will go to the polls after a long gap. These three phases have been marked by unusual political combinations, which include the Congress aligning with the BJP in Ambarnath, and the BJP joining hands with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in Akot. Several other unusual combinations have also been seen in the State. Terming them as “chaos and disruption”, Ms. Sule said she hoped that politics in Maharashtra would find “its level, and stability soon”.
“The last two-and-a-half years have been challenging for both of us,” she said, when asked if the two Pawar parties would be joining hands hereafter, adding, “They haven’t been easy. It is not that you are happy if you are in power, or you are sad when you are in Opposition. That is a very narrow way of looking at it.”
“The issue of development brought the two parties together,” Ms. Sule said, asserting that the party’s local workers came up with the proposal.
“Sometimes, you have to ride the tide. You either walk away, or be a part of the system and find a way to navigate. One of the reasons we are together is because this local body election is the election of every party’s local worker. They are the second and third tier leaders who too need a chance to fight. Most alliance partners like to do their own things,” she said.
The BJP won the previous local body elections in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, trumping the NCP out of power there.
Congress’s impact
She answered in the affirmative when asked if parting ways with the Congress would have an impact on the NCP’s poll prospects in the municipal corporation elections. “Definitely. It would have been different had the Congress been with us,” she said. When asked if the current political alignments would lead to a division instead of consolidation of votes, she said they would.
The Congress has a substantial presence in high stakes elections, including in Mumbai and Pune, where regional parties would have benefited from the consolidation of Muslim and Scheduled Caste vote banks, and would have led to a vote transfer as well.
“I was trying very hard to stick together with the Congress. We tried to convince them [the Congress], saying, let’s go with them [the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray or UBT]. But you can’t live in the past,” Ms. Sule said.
Impact on INDIA bloc
When asked about the strain in the alliances for the local body elections, and their impact on the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and INDIA bloc, Ms. Sule emphasised teamwork. “If you want to work together as a team, it is never hard to make it work. It [the disruption] doesn’t matter. Everybody speculated about the MNS [Maharashtra Navnirman Sena]. Alliances find their way like water finds its level. I don’t think it is so extreme and challenging anywhere,” she said.
Ms. Sule spoke specifically about the INDIA bloc when asked if the MVA and INDIA bloc would stick together in 2029. “This is national, about the INDIA bloc. Why will it not? Look at the old times. Did the Congress and NCP ever fight any election together? And yet we were in government for so many years,” Ms. Sule said.
‘Congress-yukt BJP’
She said that the BJP, which came to power with a thumping majority in 2014 and called for a “Congress-mukt Bharat”, today consists mostly of former Congress leaders. “In 2014, the Modi government sent us home, packing our bags on the plank of ‘bhrashtacharmukt [corruption-free] Bharat’. What a mandate! But what has happened thereafter? Corruption hasn’t gone down. The washing machine exists. 60% [of the] decision-making leadership in the BJP is from the Congress. India has not become Congress-mukt. The BJP has become Congress-yukt,” Ms. Sule said.
‘Follow FRBM Act’
While lauding the Maharashtra government for infrastructure projects, she accused it of multifold cost escalation. “There are no investments left. On top of it, the government asks, what do you need savings for? You are making it into a spending economy from a saving economy. The BMC [Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation] was one of the richest municipal corporations in the country. Mumbaikars work very hard. But now, the BMC is to monetise the rifle range in Worli. [I] am not against development. But does the BMC really need to monetise it [the rifle range]? It is an alarm. The entire financial position of the government is not as rosy. Please follow the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act. [The late former BJP Prime Minister] Vajpayee-ji had brought it. It was strengthened thereafter. [The late former Congress PM] Manmohan Singh-ji added things to it. To keep fiscal management in control, the FRBM Act is important. Everything will collapse in no time otherwise,” Ms. Sule said.
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