My focus for the election is jobs: Aaditya Thackeray

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader promises employment-focussed agenda, and criticises industrial exodus from Maharashtra under the current government.

Aaditya Thackeray on his way to file his nomination papers in Worli, Mumbai, on October 24, 2024. | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

Former Minister and leader of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) Aaditya Thackeray weighs in on his party’s agenda for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly election in an exclusive interview with Frontline. He says his party will contest with the backing of people’s love and the hard work put in over the past two-and-a-half years by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Excerpts:

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.

I would not like to go in personalities. The Worli Coastal Road would have been completed by June 2023 had our government stayed in power. The same is the case with Worli Sewri link road. The issue of the Bombay Development Department chawl has been pending for 25 years. In our government, we did not just inaugurate the project: the first tower of rehabilitation is ready.

How do you see your first term as an MLA? Maharashtra has seen many developments over the past five years. Your party broke away from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), then you formed the government, which was later toppled. We also saw that the Shiv Sena as a party unit went to the Eknath Shinde faction with the Election Commission’s verdict.

I see it in two compartments. First, there was our government. Now for the last two years, there has been an illegal government. Uddhavji was Chief Minister. In our times, there was the pandemic. But the world praised our work during this phase: WHO praised our work in Mumbai. Despite COVID-19, Maharashtra’s growth did not stop. We brought in investments of Rs.80,000 crore to the State in two years. We waived farmer loans.

But compare this to the two years of the Shinde-led government. There is zero investment. Industrialists are running away from Maharashtra. There is an extreme level of corruption. This government has failed to protect the State’s interests. It has failed to hold the Foxconn Vedanta project, which was supposed to create one lakh jobs in the State. On the law-and-order front, this government has failed.

You have been talking about industries going out of Maharashtra and mainly to Gujarat. Do you believe people are accepting this narrative?

The people of Maharashtra believe there is a conspiracy against the State. Our State has been a leader in industry. We are the biggest manufacturer of pharma[ceutical] products. But the pharma hub shifted out of Maharashtra. Why? We are the most suitable for semiconductor manufacturing. And yet, Foxconn Vedanta was shifted out of Maharashtra. Why?

Not even one Magnetic Maharashtra, a programme for investment in the State, has been held. Why? We are being denied our share in GST. All these developments tell us one thing: they want Maharashtra to lose its leadership.

So, will the industrial setback and the law and order situation be your focus for this election?

My focus for the election is jobs. We are going to create jobs by bringing in new investments, setting up industries, filling vacant government posts.

You have also mentioned law and order. Does this mean your focus of attack will be on the failure of Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis?

I would say the failure of the government as a whole. When our corporator Abhishek Ghosalkar was killed on the Facebook Live, Fadnavis made an insensitive statement. This is the arrogance of power. This has come from earning huge money through corruption and uncontrolled power.

You have talked about several alleged corruption cases, be it the Dharavi redevelopment issue or industrial failure. How you are going to deal with these if you come to power?

Let us start with Dharavi redevelopment. We are neither against redevelopment nor against any particular industrialist. We are against the way the government has given control of Mumbai’s real estate to one person. Dharavi should have been redeveloped on the same plot of 540 acres. But the State government has allotted another 540 acres of land to Adani. Why? This is illegal. Then there is TDR [Transferable Development Rights] scam where all the developers of the city will have to buy 40 per cent of the TDR from Dharavi. We are against it. Once we come to power, we will cancel this tender. We will also form a team to investigate the allotments of all plots by this government.

There is a buzz that you have recently said in your party meetings that the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) government was toppled because powerful people wanted such decisions regarding Mumbai to be taken and you were a hurdle.

I am saying this on record. We would not have allowed this loot to happen. We would not have allowed our Mumbai to be ruled by industrialists in such a brazen way. That is why our government was toppled using all means. We are now seeing an extensive loot of Mumbai, be it in real estate or the industry sector.

There is a Maratha reservation protest. How do you see it?

I believe the core of the issue is jobs. People are lacking jobs. So, they believe that reservations are the way out. I agree with their demand. I am saying that we will have to give more and more job opportunities to our young people. We will only then see the changes.

How do you see an alliance with the Congress and the NCP(SP) for the Assembly election? There was never an electoral alliance between you.

We had supported the Congress’s presidential candidate Pratibha Patil and later Pranab Mukherjee. So, there was always a cordial relationship between us. Actually, this is what the BJP started in Maharashtra. Otherwise, there would have been no vindictive politics here. What the BJP has done in the last few years is an attack on Maharashtra’s political culture. On Maharashtra’s asmita (pride), Maharashtra’s sanskruti (healthy culture). We have never seen this kind of politics here.

A recent survey done by the Lokniti programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, published by The Hindu, shows that Uddhav Thackeray is the most popular choice for the Chief Minister’s post with 28 per cent acceptance. The incumbent Chief Minister Eknath Shinde came in at 20 per cent. Do you think the MVA should announce Uddhav Thackeray as its chief ministerial candidate?

I have read this survey. I have also read a similar survey and tracker in recent times. But I take it in a different way. I see it as the love of the people of the State. Uddhav ji as Chief Minister did a fantastic job during the pandemic and calamities such as the cyclone and landslide. But for us, the priority is to remove this government from the State. We want to bring back Maharashtra on track again. The Chief Minister’s post is not that important.

It is also being said that this election will decide who the real Shiv Sena is. Do you believe that?

I think people know who the real Shiv Sena is. A thief cannot claim what is not his.

You are attacking the BJP and the Mahayuti. But after the Lok Sabha election, they launched the Ladki Bahin (beloved sister) scheme. They are also pushing other welfare schemes. Do you not think this is going to affect the election?

The BJP came to power by promising to transfer Rs.15 lakh to each person’s account. After 10 years of power, they are transferring Rs.1,500. But their industrialist friends are getting Rs.1 lakh crore. I have also heard from somebody in the BJP that if they win, they will pull down the Ladki Bahin scheme after the election. But if we come to power, we will increase the amount.

BJP leaders often bring up another issue in their campaign speeches: Muslims voting en bloc for MVA. BJP leaders are calling it “vote jehad”. How do you see this?

If Muslims voting for us is vote jehad, then what kind of jehad is Prime Minister Modi hugging Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan? What happens when the RSS chief visits a dargah? What is wrong with Muslims voting for us? They are citizens of India and have a right to vote for whoever they want to.

There is a criticism that you have given the ticket to only one Muslim. You want their votes but have not given them representation.

Our party never gives candidature on the lines of caste, religion, and other identities. We only see acceptance among workers and the possibility of a candidate winning a particular constituency. Haroon Khan, our Muslim candidate in Versova, has been working with the Shiv Sena for a long time. He is popular in Versova among all castes and religions. We have given him the ticket for his work and not for his religion.

So, where do you see the MVA in the final results?

An absolute, clean majority for the MVA for sure. Because people know that what Maharashtra needs today is a clean, strong, and trustworthy government. A government that will not compromise on the interests of the State.