‘BJP allies will surely repeat 2019 Maha show’

MAHARASHTRA Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is confident that the ruling Mahayuti alliance, cobbled together after breaking the NCP and Shiv Sena, will win in all constituencies they won in 2019, if not more.

In an interview with Benn Kochuveedan, Fadnavis exuded confidence that the initial confusion in the BJP cadre about some allegedly tainted leaders joining the three-party alliance government will not affect the prospects of PM Modi returning to power. He blamed Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar for the splits in the Shiv Sena and the NCP. Excerpts:

With only four days left for the campaigning to end for the fifth and the final phase of the polls in Maharashtra, how confident are you of victory?

I am very sure about our party alliance winning all the seats that we are contesting. I am pretty confident that we'll get at least the same number of seats (41 of 48) we had in the 2019 elections. This includes all the six seats in Mumbai. Of course, our effort is to better our tally.

There are many candidates who are considered weak in the alliance; a few of them with serious criminal cases pending against them....

Yes, there are a few weak candidates. But in BJP and NDA, individual candidates don't matter at all. Anyone voting for us is voting for PM Modi. Our party workers do not look at individual candidates because every vote we get is cast for the PM. Our candidates are elected only to ensure Modi's return to power for the third time. However, every vote cast for the Opposition is for Rahul Gandhi.

What went wrong with your alliance with Shiv Sena in general and Uddhav in particular? And what about NCP?