You first contested and won in Sangamner in 1985. This is your ninth election. Leaders face anti-incumbency in the first or second term. Don’t you sense a similar sentiment?

People often ask me this question: how did you even get elected for the eight terms. Let me tell you the answer to this. If you have direct touch with people, if you work sincerely and honestly for people and bring real change in their life, people continue voting for you.

Almost 40 years have passed since you first contested. What has changed in these decades?

What is the difference between 1985 and 2024? You will see a number of farm lakes. In Sangamner tehsil, you will find 10,000 similar lakes. Forty years ago, there was no water. Today there is a canal. People store the water and use it with micro irrigation facilities for horticulture. This has brought prosperity to the area.  

This is about development. But what about politics? What has changed in politics?

I have seen big changes in the past 40 years. Until 1985, there was a generation of leaders who were ideologically committed. Their speeches on development reflected non-partisanship. But in the past 10 years, this has rapidly declined. Ever since the BJP came into power, everything has changed. There is no ideology left now. All they want is power. Look at the language of many leaders. There is no grace left among many politicians.

What is the agenda of your party for this election?

The Congress has been a party of ideology. We are going into this election with the ideals of the Constitution. What is said in the Preamble, about inclusiveness, secularism, equality, is our agenda. BJP is pushing a communal agenda to get power. This is against the idea of the Constitution. But all our schemes are centred around the common man, his welfare, his development.

You are saying your agenda is based on ideology and development. But Mahayuti leaders are saying the same thing. They have brought in a number of welfare schemes. What is unique about your alliance?

Forget their schemes. First, we need to talk about the way they have formed this government. They misused government machinery and autonomous bodies to break parties. So, people reacted to their work in the Lok Sabha election. That is why they realised they would need some populist schemes where they would be able to shower money on the public. The Ladki Bahin scheme is fine, but many other schemes are aimed at votes. They do not have any vision. This has harmed the basic development of the State.

You are talking about the misuse of autonomous bodies in context of breaking the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Are voters really bothered by this?

Yes. There is anger among people. Maharashtra is a progressive State. The thoughts of Shahu Maharaj and Ambedkar are well accepted here. That is why the people of the State want politics to be cultured and ruled-based. That is why BJP’s politics is being rejected by the people.

Do you believe that schemes such as waving off electricity bills or the Ladki Bahin scheme have no effect on the ground? And people are more concerned about ideological decline?

Ladki Bahin is a copy-paste from the Congress manifesto. Rahul Gandhi had promised it. We will also come up with schemes for the farmers. We are not against helping the poor. But under the name of welfare, hundreds of crores are being spent on advertisement. This is loot.

But politically speaking, do you believe that these schemes have brought the Mahayuti into the race?

I don’t think so. They will not be in a race because of these schemes. Because people do not want this government back. They have been against it since its very formation. People call it an illegal government.

What is your positive agenda for the election?

Our agenda is welfare of the common man and upholding the Constitution. All our schemes will be about the last man of society. How we can empower his life is our concern.

The State government claimed that Maharashtra has become number one in industrial development in the past two years. Do you agree?

No. The reality is that industries have gone to Gujarat. You are bringing in Ladki Bahin, but her brother has no job. A recent economic paper (a report of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister) has shown that the State’s GDP has declined in the past decade. Once Maharashtra was the most developing State. But the BJP has brought it down.

After the Lok Sabha election, BJP has often referred to ‘Vote Jehad’, targetting the Muslim voter. What is your take on this?

They always stoke communal feelings to get into power. They have nothing to show in terms of their work. But I want to ask them: onion farmers voted for us in the Lok Sabha election. Will BJP call it ‘onion jehad’? Unemployed youth voted for us in huge numbers. Is that ‘unemployed jehad’? Women voted for us en bloc because they were against the increasing atrocities against them. What would BJP call it? ‘Women against atrocities jehad’?

The question of the Maratha reservation is being hotly discussed in Maharashtra. Manoj Jarange Patil of Maratha reservation has declared that his movement will not get into electoral politics. How do you see this?

It is the right decision. Because they are not a political party. They are not protesting keeping political power in mind. They are protesting for a large number of youth of one community who are unemployed. So had they come into politics, this protest would have seen setbacks.

Political analysts say that the Jat versus non-Jat polarisation helped the BJP gain power in Haryana and that the same thing is going to happen in Maharashtra. That non–Maratha communities will come together against you. What is your take?

This is how BJP politics happens. It is based on strategies. They have think tanks to work on it and implement it. They will try this. But I am of the opinion that this will not be possible in Maharashtra.

The Congress is trying to call itself the Big Brother, but it is a fact that the party is contesting a greater number of seats in the MVA. So, you are already in the role of the Big Brother. Are you happy with the seat-sharing that has taken place in MVA?

The issue is not about who the Big Brother is. The criteria was which party would win a particular seat. We did not first decide the number of the seats. We make a tally of seats after seat-sharing is finalised. The winnability and the presence of the party were the criteria. You asked me, are you happy with the number of seats? So, I would like to tell you that when the Congress was contesting alone, it was contesting in all 288 seats. When we were in an alliance with only NCP, we were contesting for some 145 seats. Now there are three partners. So, it is obvious that we will get one-third of the seats. When you are in an alliance, not everything happens according to your whims. But if we show maturity, and help each other, we can achieve success.

The big issue this time is rebels. They are in both alliances. Would that be a hurdle?

Yes, I accept it. There is rebellion in many places. We tried to convince many rebels. Some listened to us. We are still trying. I am not denying that the rebels will have a negative impact on our success. But Mahayuti contends with the same situation, and their problem is much more severe than ours.

Do you believe the way rebels got elected in 1995—there were 34-35 rebels—a similar situation is developing this time?

No, I don’t think so as of now. Voters are taking a straight decision whether to vote for the MVA or Mahayuti. MVA will have more success this election.

It is believed that when Modi starts campaigning in Maharashtra, it will help the NDA. What is your take?

I really don’t think so. We saw him during the Lok Sabha election. He came here many times but people still voted against the BJP. Earlier the Prime Minister used to address just one or two rallies in each State. There was a negative impact of his speeches. The same thing is going to happen in the Assembly election. Modi’s rallies will have no impact on our success.

In 2019, Congress won only one seat in the Lok Sabha. Today, you have 14 MPs from Maharashtra. In a way, you are the number one party in the State. What do you expect of the Assembly election results?

We won the highest number of seats. I also accept that this was possible because there was a strong alliance. Rahul Gandhi’s yatra also immensely contributed to this success. We, as an alliance, will do well if we stay together.

What do you predict about the seats?

I think, if we implement a good campaign system and control rebels, we will reach 180 (out of 288).

You are calling it a bumper majority.

Yes, we can have a bumper majority.

You are a senior leader of the party. If the Congress gets a greater number of seats in the MVA, will you be the Chief Minister?

My priority right now is to get power for MVA. We will all have to work together. Once we get the numbers, I am sure that MVA leaders will sit together and decide on the Chief Minister.

Let us begin with your first term as an MLA. It has been the belief that the Thackerays do not want to take responsibility and so do not contest. They enjoy power with a remote control in their hand. But in your case, you are the first Thackeray to contest. How do you see your work as an MLA?

When I contested for the first time, it was a different experience altogether. I was able to see how systems function first hand. I think my work speaks enough about my membership of the Assembly.

Your first election was comparatively less challenging as you had support of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS); there was no strong fight on the ground from then-Opposition alliance of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). But this time, Mahayuti is attempting to trap you in Worli. Milind Deora is contesting for Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and MNS too has fielded its candidate.