With the Lok Sabha polls around the corner, the opposition Shiv Sena-BJP faces an uphill task of fighting the ruling Congress-NCP while watching its back for the Raj Thackeray-led MNS which may eat into the anti-incumbency vote. Its rainbow coalition with Dalit leader Ramdas Athavale too seems to have frayed with his threatening to quit in case his RPI does not get enough Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats. In a freewheeling interview, BJP’s young turk and Nagpur MLA Devendra Fadnavis, who is chief of the state unit, speaks on challenges before the party as it gears up to face elections. Edited excerpts:The Lok Sabha polls are due early next year. What will be the BJP’s main poll plank?The Lok Sabha election will be fought on national issues with a few state-related ones being reflected. People are absolutely dejected with Congress-led UPA government. They’ve given up on it. We will concentrate on issues like corruption, inflation and poverty which reflect the Centre’s policy failures.How does BJP plan to project Narendra Modi in Maharashtra?While we speak on good governance, Congress is speaking on communal politics. However, there will not be many takers for this as all know that Congress lacks the credentials to talk on good governance. They do not want to face elections on issues but on emotions. But we will fight elections on issues. Modi inspires hope, he is now the symbol of good governance. We plan to take Modi to Vidarbha, Marathwada, Western Maharashtra and Mumbai (for the city and rest of Maharashtra). The structure of the programmes will be decided after consulting him. Mumbai may see him address a large conclave of around 2-3lakh party workers to motivate them and we’re deciding whether common people also be allowed.The perception is that the opposition is ineffective and lacks the punch when it comes to taking on the government and hence is unable to tap into the anti-incumbency sentiment.In the last few years, we have been attacking the government (on irregularities) in sectors like irrigation and agriculture. If the state government decides not to respond, what can we do? The people will give them a fitting reply.Presence of MNS in the fray and fragmentation of the opposition vote was seen as responsible for Sena-BJP’s smaller seat tally in 2009. Will MNS join hands with the saffron alliance before the polls?Our agenda is clear. BJP, Shiv Sena and RPI will fight polls together as of now. I am non-committal on it (alliance with MNS).Are there possibilities of a post-poll tie-up the MNS?This is a hypothetical question which can’t be commented on.There are chances that minorities, including those in Maharashtra, may polarise in favour of the Congress due to Modi being projected as a Prime Ministerial candidate by the BJP.I do not feel so. The Congress expects minority polarisation. The minorities have realised that the government has created problems for the country. Things have changed post-2002 and in Gujarat around 35% Muslims voted for Modi. The 2002 riots were unfortunate but Modi was blamed for it. The same thing happened in Uttar Pradesh when champions of secularism, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, are in power (however) Modi was targeted and scapegoated. The Sachar report shows how Muslims in Gujarat have a high per capita income.Ramdas Athavale and his Republican Party of India (RPI) have made no bones of the fact that they may break off from the Sena-BJP if they do not get adequate political representation.They, the BJP and the Shiv Sena will take an appropriate decision. Ramdas Athavale is our valued partner.The BJP supports a separate state of Vidarbha while the Shiv Sena is known for its opposition to the idea. Experts like former minister, the late Dr Shrikant Jichkar, have shown how a separate Vidarbha makes little economic sense.The BJP supports statehood for Vidarbha. This is not an emotional issue but that based on socio-economic change and socio-economic development. Vidarbha must be a separate state to alleviate regional imbalance and solve the problem of governance. The BJP created three new states (Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh) when it was in power at the Centre. If considered on the issue of viability, Vidarbha makes sounder economic logic than rest of Maharashtra minus Mumbai. The state will gain substantially from the Centre’s method of devolving taxes and may get Rs40,000 crore in five years.

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