The Hindu : Q & A: Gopinath Munde

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Sunday, Mar 28, 2004

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National - Elections 2004

Q & A: Gopinath Munde

'This is our dress rehearsal'

The former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, Gopinath Munde, who later became the BJP's national vice-president, has been brought back as Maharashtra's State unit chief to win the elections for the party. In an interview with Mahesh Vijapurkar, he says the Congress-NCP's calculations are "fallacious" as they do not reckon with the `erosion' of their base. Excerpts:

Why is this election important and different from others?

Maharashtra sends the largest contingent to Lok Sabha after Uttar Pradesh; they send 80, we send 48. Obviously our stakes are very high. This is also our dress rehearsal for the September Assembly elections where we intend to unseat the Congress-NCP Government. We need to ensure the return of [the] NDA and prime our people to win the Assembly seats. That's why we are putting everything into this election.

You sound positive even when your rivals of 1999 have now joined hands to defeat you. Is this optimism well placed?

It is. They assume that Maharashtra's Democratic Front Government's anti-incumbency will not be stoked by us. We are talking of their misrule and are telling people, why send these same people to Delhi? There is this Telgi scam and involvement of powerful people. Half our campaign content will be on such local issues and the other half on the glory of the NDA rule. These people [Congress-NCP] have an image problem. This will cut into their joint support base and add to our strength. Do not forget that since 1999, the BJP and the Sena have been continuously mobilising people on the DF Government's failure here. Their electoral arithmetic is fallacious; they do not acknowledge our growth and their erosion. They are indulging in wishful thinking.

How so?

Do not forget that the anti-Sonia Gandhi votes which would have come to us in 1999 went to Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party. Such voters have now increased in number and because of his [Mr. Pawar's] alliance with the Congress, will shift to us. In 1999, some seven per cent more voters voted us to [the] Lok Sabha than they did to us on the same day for the Assembly. Add the anti-incumbency here and Mr. Vajpayee's wide appeal, and we should do well.

Mr. Pawar virtually taking charge of the campaign has not gone well with the Congress and some NCP leaders resent the tie-up. We have capitalised on this. We built a new social base: we brought in Muslims who come and spoke out about the need for [a] common civil code; we brought in the shepherd community which has a big role in Maharashtra. We have made inroads into traditional [Opposition] strongholds such as major cooperatives ... We now touch every section of society. The Maratha Mahasangh has allied with the BJP-Sena. Except in 1988, Mr. Pawar has never increased the Congress tally...

What's your target?

At the very minimum, to retain the 28 seats that we and the Shiv Sena have between us. Then add to them. This [is] possible because of another key reason. The Sena-BJP tie-up is an old alliance since 1984; we are also natural allies unlike the NCP and the Congress. They are united at the top but it has not [gone] down well at the grassroots [level] yet. We are capitalising on that. We are jointly campaigning in all constituencies. Earlier, we would have a joint inauguration and that was it. Our weakness was [that] our workers would shift to a BJP constituency from a Sena seat and Sena cadres [would] migrate to their constituency elsewhere. This time workers from both parties are staying put and working hard for the common candidate. We are also sharing our expenses for all such joint campaigns.

Is expense a problem?

We have great resources in terms of manpower. The workers' physical effort plus the funds they raise on behalf of the party and present to me makes not just us but [also] the candidates feel confident. Thus everyone, from cadre upwards, is involved.

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