LoP in Maharashtra Council, Ambadas Danve, spoke to South First about the challenges of contesting polls in coalitions, the impact of the Maratha reservation protest, and the lagging development projects in the Marathwada region.
Published Nov 06, 2024 | 12:00 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 06, 2024 | 12:00 PM
Ambadas Danve. (Facebook)
In 1988 Maharashtra, a young and dynamic party named the Shiv Sena stepped out of its Mumbai and Konkan comfort zone to win the civic body polls in Aurangabad, the headquarters of the Marathwada region.
The Sena, with its fiery leaders, pro-Hindutva and regionalist stance, established a stronghold in the region and has never lost it, despite all the shifts in the party leadership and dynamic through the years.
Nearly four decades later, Aurangabad is now called Sambhajinagar, the Shiv Sena has split in a way that a part of it is in power and another is in Opposition. At the same time, the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) faction may have an uphill task in retaining a region that has been its biggest power centre outside of Mumbai and Thane.
Marathwada, with 46 Assembly seats, is considered a barometer of the state’s overall political mood. The region is a massive industrial hub and part of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial corridor. It is also one of the most drought-prone regions in the state, known for high unemployment rates and farmer suicides coupled with communal tensions.
Of the Opposition MVA constituents, the Shiv Sena (UBT) will be fielding 16 seats while the Congress and the NCP (SP) will be contesting 15 seats each in the region in the Assembly polls due in two weeks.
Amidst party members’ shifting alliances, Ambadas Danve, the Shiv Sena (UBT) in-charge for Marathwada and the leader of Opposition in the state’s legislative council, spoke to South First about the challenges of contesting polls in coalitions, the impact of the Maratha reservation protest, and the lagging development projects in the region.
Q: As a senior party leader, what are your thoughts on the current seat-sharing arrangement with your alliance partners, and how do you feel about the party’s chances?
A: As a Shiv Sainik, obviously I would want my party to contest on the maximum possible seats. But given the dynamics of the alliance, some concessions had to be made and we have done the best we can to give our party workers a fair chance.
The party has always done well in Mumbai, Konkan, Marathwada, and the Vidarbha region. I do feel like we should have had more seats here, given that we are strong in Marathwada.
Q: Maharashtra is getting quite the reputation for leaders switching parties or breaking away to form their own. There are accusations that the government is using central agencies to persecute leaders into changing allegiances.
A: We can all see it happening. When the government feels threatened by the Opposition, they resort to such tactics. I feel like politics needs to be much better than this.
You can have differences of ideology and opinion, but the inquiries, the false allegations, the harassment – they dirty the game.
Q: The Maratha reservation movement is a major factor in Marathwada, as is Manoj Jarange Patil. The MVA has yet to declare an official position on the issue; what exactly is your stance?
A: We respect Jarange Patil and we do believe that he is putting up a good fight for the Maratha community. I also appreciate that he has not entered active politics since it would have been a strategic error. People tend to view activist-turned-politicians with suspicion, and it would have impacted his cause.
As for the reservation, the Sena supports it wholeheartedly. However, the Union government needs to pass a law in Parliament, allowing us to breach the 50 percent reservation ceiling for this to work. If we were to include the Marathas in the existing Kunbi faction of the OBCs [Other Backward Castes], as Jarange Patil says, it would be very unfair to all the other castes under the category.
At the very least, we have to increase the OBC quota beyond the existing 27 percent, which, again, needs a law from the Union government about lifting the 50 percent limit.
Q: Most of the discourse around the polls seems to centre around reservation. Do you feel like it pushes back the conversation about development issues?
A: I would still say reservation is an important issue, but there’s also the fact that the region has many problems. For example, we have seen constant delays in government recruitment under the MPSC [Maharashtra Public Service Commission]. What would be the point of reservation if there were no jobs in the state?
Businesses from the state are moving to Gujarat. The state has a debt of ₹7,88,000 crore. We are falling short of funds even to pay government employees’ salaries.
Farmers’ issues are an ongoing concern. Farmers aren’t getting paid fairly for their produce and we can’t even fulfil their power requirements.
The lack of women’s safety in the state is alarming. Given the recent incidents of violence against women and children, we can see that people don’t trust the legal system to protect them anymore. We need a strong government that will restore the public’s faith in the law and take strong action to prevent such crimes.
Q: Coming to Marathwada, you once accused the government of under-delivering on its promises to the region and sabotaging its development.
A: As of now, 1,967 projects are pending in Marathwada. Last year, the government announced an investment of ₹46,000 crore for the region, mainly irrigation projects. However, only ₹81 crore has been approved for conducting surveys – even that amount hasn’t come through.
By comparison, during the Uddhav Thackeray-led government, we chose to focus on completing existing projects, rather than making tall, empty promises.
Q: Marathwada is home to many major industries, especially in the automobile sector. Cluster development, however, is not at par with regions like Chakan near Mumbai. It only attracts about 3.4 percent of the state’s industrial investments. What do you feel can be done about this?
A: I believe the answer lies in going beyond Sambhajinagar, which is already home to many companies. It is a pretty bleak picture in the rest of Marathwada, especially in districts like Beed, Parbhani, and Hingoli. We should start there.
Logistics development needs to go a long way in this – building railway connectivity, airports, and proper highways.
We also need to encourage the existing talent pool in the region. Marathwada needs better higher education institutions like IITs. If you remember, it was promised to us, but Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis gave the project to his home district Nagpur.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
