Ashok Chavan, who had to resign as Maharashtra CM because of the Adarsh scam in 2010, says this is the right time for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to join politics.
Mumbai: Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan has said the time is ripe for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s entry into politics, considering Uttar Pradesh looks set for a tough battle in the Lok Sabha elections.
The younger Gandhi sibling was recently named Congress general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, signifying her jump into active politics, and Chavan, president of the Maharashtra unit of the Congress, said it was the “right decision at the right time”.
“Of course, nothing prevented her from joining earlier. But I think this is an appropriate time, when Uttar Pradesh looks like a difficult task because other parties have alliances and the Congress is fighting on its own,” Chavan told ThePrint in an interview.
“I think leadership is important, and Uttar Pradesh was once a stronghold of the Congress. It is the home turf of Mrs (Sonia) Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi earlier too. People remember Indira Gandhi when they see Priyanka Gandhi. She has done a lot of positive work. This will help not only in Uttar Pradesh but elsewhere in the country too.”
Adarsh scam a non-issue
Chavan had to resign as Maharashtra chief minister in 2010 for approving additional construction area for the Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai, allegedly in exchange for two flats for relatives. But last year, the Bombay High Court set aside Maharashtra Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao’s sanction to the Central Bureau of Investigation to prosecute Chavan in the case, and the matter is now in the Supreme Court.
Asked if Adarsh would affect the electoral prospects of his or his party, Chavan said it was a non-issue now.
“Even in the last election, this issue was brought forward. Despite that, I won the election,” Chavan, the MP from Nanded, said.
“This issue was created by the opposition at the time. I have always said that it was an accident that I went through. I survived it. I came back into active politics again. My party is performing well in Maharashtra. So I don’t think it is much of an issue.”
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Alliance talks to conclude soon
Chavan said talks with the Nationalist Congress Party have been very fruitful so far, and both parties along with other allies are likely to finalise a seat-sharing agreement in the next week or 10 days. The final decision will be taken by the top leadership of both parties, he said.
“Elections are fast approaching and, probably in the month of March, some announcement is expected. Keeping that deadline in mind, we have drawn our own general observations about constituencies,” he said.
“Now, in a week or 10 days, we will sort out our issues with the NCP as well as the alliances that we have in mind with the Samajwadi Party, Peasants and Workers Party, Raju Shetti’s Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana etc. We have been discussing all those for quite some time. A few meetings have already happened.”
Chavan pointed out that the BJP got only about 30 per cent of the total vote in 2014, which means 70 per cent vote was anti-BJP but got divided among like-minded parties.
“To avoid such a division, we intend to bring all those secular-minded parties together so that we don’t have a division of votes amongst ourselves and the necessary alliance partner benefits from the alliance,” he said.
Pulse of the people against BJP-Sena
Chavan said Congress leaders travelled 6,500 kilometres across 121 assembly constituencies in Maharashtra in the recently-concluded ‘Jan Sangharsh Yatra’, and found that the pulse of the people was against the BJP-Shiv Sena government.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime has completely failed in addressing farmers’ issues, such as getting them a just minimum support price, the country’s law and order situation, industrial development, employment, and overall growth.
“The first results reflecting the national scenario were of the elections in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, where Congress has emerged stronger. There is a similar trend in Maharashtra and country-wide,” he said.
“Of course there may be ups and downs here and there, but generally, what we have observed is that there are positive trends, and the Congress is emerging stronger.”
Speaking about the acrimonious relations between the BJP and the Shiv Sena, Chavan said the Sena is playing hardball simply to bargain with the BJP and extract its pound of flesh.
“People have realised that ultimately Shiv Sena and BJP are going to come together. So the same disadvantage of non-performance, whatever applies to the BJP, the same applies to the Shiv Sena also,” Chavan said.
On dynasty politics
Chavan, whose father Shankarrao Chavan was also a former Maharashtra CM, slammed the debate on dynasty politics as a “criticism of convenience”.
“There are several people who belong to one (political) family or the other and are in the political field all over the country. Some are elected, some are rejected. Ultimately, the people’s mandate is important,” he said.
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