Interview/ Harshvardhan Sapkal, president, Maharashtra Congress
HARSHVARDHAN SAPKAL has his roots in the Sarvodaya philosophy. When he took over as president of the Congress in Maharashtra, he told the party high command that he did not want any other post during the tenure, as he wanted to focus on making the party organisation robust. In an interview with THE WEEK, Sapkal talks about the law and order situation in the state and why the ruling coalition is just a marriage of convenience. Excerpts:
Q/ After taking charge as Congress state president you took various reviews. What are the findings?
A/ The state Congress unit has huge potential. The space that the Congress occupies in the state is intact. In fact, it has grown. Despite getting a thumping majority, people are not attending the programmes of the BJP chief minister or his deputies; there is no crowd behind them. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis does not enjoy the popularity that the BJP is claiming he has. In fact, people are talking against him. Why is this so? Has there been any [election] manipulation?
In just six months after the Lok Sabha elections, the number of voters increased by 75 lakh for the assembly elections. Interestingly, these 75 lakh votes are the victory margin of the Mahayuti. When we asked the Election Commission about this, their representatives did not give an answer. Instead Union home minister and Maharashtra chief minister are giving replies.
Farmers are angry because their produce is not getting good prices; law and order is a shambles; criminal activity has gone up and all the criminal connections are reaching to the rulers. Is the government backing them?
Q/ What do you think about the law and order in the state?
A/ There is no law and order at all. Take the case of the murder of Santosh Deshmukh in Beed. It clearly tells us that there was no policing in the first place in Beed. In the Pune rape case (a woman was raped in a state transport bus), it shows that even a public place like a bus stand is not safe now. There is no fear of police. Drug addicts, drunkards and criminals have made these places their hubs.
Q/ Why did the Congress demand the ouster of DGP Rashmi Shukla?
A/ She ordered tapping of the phones of opposition leaders and kept a vigilance team on them. So we wanted her to be removed. But those who asked her to do all the tapping and vigilance work have now come back to power; so she has been rewarded.
Q/ The Congress has filed petitions in the high court challenging the poll results in various constituencies.
A/ We filed petitions to the Election Commission and asked for certain information. The Election Commission then changed the rules. They are certainly hiding something. We have approached the high court and are waiting to hear from it.
Q/ Do you think the Congress was overconfident after its performance in the Lok Sabha elections?
A/ We were not overconfident. The anti-incumbency was far stronger than the Lok Sabha elections because of factors like breaking of parties by the BJP to form the government. So we thought that we will win. But now we feel that the MVA’s efforts lacked coordination. We should have declared candidates and started our campaign much earlier.
Q/ During the recent riots in Nagpur, did the police discriminate between the rioters from two communities?
A/ Let us first understand that a criminal is a criminal; he does not have any particular caste or religion. The riot started because there was a rumour that a sacred chadar with ‘Ayats’ written was burnt by some miscreants from one community. But there was no strict action against them. And then when the other community responded in the evening, the main accused’s property was bulldozed and minors were arrested. Two of the 11 accused in the first incident are close to Fadnavis, the RSS and the VHP. So their names are not included.
Q/ Do you think schemes like Ladki Bahin are just a way to pay women without real women empowerment ?
A/ The scheme never had any intention of empowering women. It was just a way the Mahayuti figured out after their defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. They wooed women voters with this scheme because it covered half the voting population and they systematically carried out caste polarisation. If they really had women’s empowerment in mind, these schemes should have started after Eknath Shinde took over as chief minister. So they just created a show despite the fact that the financial situation did not permit such a scheme. Now they have brought down the number of Ladki Bahin beneficiaries by 10 lakh and they are evaluating it again.
Q/ Do you think the ministers are not afraid of the chief minister any longer, considering the remarks they make these days?
A/ Some ministers have been appointed to make that kind of statements. These three parties have not come together on the basis or thoughts or ideology, they have come together just for power. This government is conveying a message that unless you are in power, no work gets done in your constituency. This was never the case in Maharashtra. So the people who come together only for power always have their internal conflicts and wars; same thing applies to this government.
Q/ Is the Congress ready for the municipal elections?
A/ The government does not want to conduct municipal elections because they don’t want devolution of power. Devolution of power was the dream of Rajiv Gandhi ji. He wanted power to reach the lowest sections of society. This is the Congress ideology. But the BJP ideology is centralisation of power. So they are principally opposed to devolution. Fadnavis wants all the power in the two pockets of his suit. Currently all the power is with the CM and two deputy CMs. They don’t want local elections even after almost three years. People have forgotten that they had ward-level representatives.