This is a battle for the soul of Maharashtra: Balasaheb Thorat

Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat is an old warhorse. He has represented the Sangamner assembly segment in Maharashtra’s Ahilyanagar district from 1985. Without a break. If the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comes to power, and the Congress does well, Thorat could even be a contender for the hotseat. Amey Tirodkar caught up with him on the campaign trail.

You first contested and won in Sangamner in 1985. This is your ninth election. Have you never faced anti-incumbency?

People often ask: how did you even get elected eight times? Let me tell you the secret: if you are in direct touch with people, if you work sincerely and honestly for the people and bring real change in their lives, people will vote for you.

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

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

That’s 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 — that is our agenda. The BJP is pushing a communal agenda to get power. This is against the idea of the Constitution. 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 the 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. People reacted in the Lok Sabha election. That’s 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 the context of breaking the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Are voters really bothered by this?

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

Do you think schemes like Ladki Bahin or the waiver of electricity bills have no effect on the ground? Are people more concerned about ideological decline?

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

Politically speaking, do you think these schemes have brought the Mahayuti back into the race?

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

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 [this sister’s] brother has no job. A recent economic paper [a report by 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. The BJP has brought it down.

After the Lok Sabha election, the BJP has raised the ‘vote jihad’ slogan. What is your take on this?

They always stoke communal feelings to get 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 jihad’? Unemployed youth voted for us in huge numbers. Is that ‘unemployed jihad’? Women voted for us en masse because they were against rising atrocities against them. What would BJP call that? ‘Women against atrocities jihad’?

The Maratha reservation question is being hotly discussed in Maharashtra. Jarange Patil has declared 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 with political power in mind. They are protesting for a large number of unemployed youth from one community. Had they come into politics, this protest would have seen setbacks.

Analysts say the Jat/ non-Jat polarisation helped the BJP win Haryana, and that non-Maratha communities will come together against you here…

This is how BJP politics happens. It is based on strategies. They have think tanks to work on them and implement them. They will try this. But I think this won’t work in Maharashtra.

Is the Congress playing ‘big brother’ in the MVA? Are you happy with the seat-sharing?

We didn’t first decide on the number of seats. The criteria [in our discussions] was which party could win a particular seat. Winnability and presence were the criteria. You ask: are you happy with the number of seats? When the Congress was contesting alone, it fought all 288 seats; when we were in alliance with only the NCP, we contested some 145; now there are three partners: it is only obvious that we will get a third. When you are in an alliance, not everything goes your way. 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 that. There is rebellion. We tried to convince many rebels. We are still trying. Some listened to us. 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.

The way rebels got elected in 1995 — there were 34–35 rebels then — do you believe a similar situation may develop this time?

I don’t think so, as of now. Voters are taking a straight decision on whether to vote for the MVA or Mahayuti. The MVA will have greater success in this election.

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

I don’t think so. We saw him during the Lok Sabha election. He came here many times but people still voted against the BJP.

What’s your seat prediction?

If we implement a good campaign and control the rebels, we will reach 180.

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 secure a victory for the MVA. We will all have to work together. Once we get the numbers, the MVA leaders will sit together and decide on the chief minister.

This interview originally appeared in Frontline