Interview | Prithviraj Chavan on the Thackerays' Reunion, the Congress and its Future in the MVA

Former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, who hails from a Congress family in the state, is a known party loyalist. He had been a close associate of former prime minister, the late Manmohan Singh, having served as minister of state in his PMO for several years before moving to Maharashtra as chief minister. Chavan also been Congress general secretary. As CM, he had taken on his deputy Ajit Pawar in a number of cases. Pawar is back to the deputy chief minister's seat now. Where is the Congress headed and what happens as the Thackeray brothers unite?  

The Wire speaks to Chavan over the telephone. Edited excerpts of the chat are as follows.

What is the future of coalition politics in Maharashtra at a time when the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have moved closer while the bitterness between Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (SP) and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party has diluted?

Uddhav and Raj [Thackeray] coming together is their internal matter. It will have no impact on the coalition. Our alliance is with Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and the NCP headed by Sharad Pawar. If they [Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena] want to have a subsidiary alliance with someone, it is their internal affair.

For us, core values are secularism, equality, social justice, and the thoughts of Mahatma Phule, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, and Dr. Ambedkar. We will not compromise on that.

We had an alliance and seat sharing arrangement for the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections.

Local body elections are usually contested independently, and later we go in for a post-poll alliance. Mostly the local units decide on this.

In 1999, although the Congress had an alliance with the undivided NCP in the state, the two parties contested the local body polls separately.

Recently in 2024, the Congress had contested the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections in alliance with Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP). There is a very strong desire of the local units to contest the local body polls independently. The final decision will be taken by the Congress leadership.

But then why did the Congress keep away from the July 5 victory rally for the cause of Marathi, to celebrate the government’s action of withdrawing the decision to impose Hindi in primary schools from class 1? 

They [Uddhav and Raj Thackeray] wanted to corner all the credit for themselves. Actually, it was the unanimous desire of the people of Maharashtra, not just the Shiv Sena. The Congress party had made its view clear – if Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS wanted to celebrate and claim victory, it's their choice. We have no issue.

What are the options before the Congress in this situation? Can Congress take on the BJP on its own and check the saffron party?

All alliance parties will take on the BJP together. It is also likely that constituents of the Mahayuti will contest independently.

Raj Thackeray takes up different issues at various times. He wants to project himself as the saviour of the Marathi manus. He wants to revive the legacy of Bal Thackeray but we have come a long way from those days.

MNS can have a pro-Marathi agenda, but they cannot have an anti-non-Marathi agenda. And the beating up of non-Marathi speaking people is just not acceptable.

It is surprising that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is not taking any action against the culprits. He must make it clear that such nonsense will not be tolerated in Maharashtra. In fact, this is a challenge for the BJP-led Fadnavis government. If a canteen manager is beaten up by a Shinde Sena MLA, why is no action being taken? Non-Marathi-speaking people are being intimidated and beaten up, but the BJP government is watching silently.

How do you see the future of Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP? Will the ruling front complete its term?

There have been tensions in the alliance. I will be surprised if they complete their term. I have doubts. After losing badly in the Lok Sabha election, BJP won the assembly election comfortably through manipulation and misuse of government machinery. Rahul Gandhi has already raised the issue about excess voter registration. We don’t accept the assembly election results. The way the Election Commission is constituted, what can you say...In the assembly elections, the BJP used massive vote buying.

For us, the ‘Samvidhan Bachao [save the constitution]’ agenda gave us good results in the Lok Sabha election, but it did not click again during the assembly election.

We failed to take up people’s issues. Like agricultural crisis, unemployment, corruption and law and order.

It appears that the 'ayaram-gayarams' – who change parties often – are proving to be more popular in Maharashtra than in Haryana or the Hindi belt?

Primarily it is because the Supreme Court did not take any action in anti-defection cases (in the wake of splits engineered in the Shiv Sena and the NCP). It is mainly because of non-action by the apex court.

Rajiv Gandhi brought the Anti-Defection Act in 1985 to stop the menace of aayaram-gayaram. The BJP amended the Act in 2003 but it has failed to prevent defection.

Besides, it is a big mystery why the Congress Speaker in the last assembly (Nana Patole) resigned. Who asked him to resign? It was the management of coalition policies and we paid a heavy price.

Your comments on the Thackeray 'brand' getting a boost with the estranged cousins coming together as the development has made political parties uncomfortable. 

We have no issue if the cousins come together....We cannot always do politics through parochial feelings. The Marathi manus is not afraid of the Hindi or Gujarati or anyone else. There is no danger to the Marathi manus. We must promote their economic well-being but not play on the fear complex. It will not work.

What do you have to say about Congress's unenviable position after the assembly polls? How do you look at the performance of the Fadnavis government?

We did badly in the assembly election, but the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections shows that Congress is a force to be reckoned with. The BJP’s victory has been artificially managed through money power and misuse of government machinery. In the five months after the Lok Sabha elections, there was apparently a sudden surge of support for the BJP.

The fact of the matter is that despite a brutal majority, the BJP is not able to run the government. Every day seven farmers are committing suicide. Law and order has completely failed. The economy is in a shambles. They are only interested in giving road contracts so as to get commission.

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