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The Rediff Interview/Uddhav Thackeray

'We must do what is good for the poor. They need our attention first'

Uddhav Thackeray has finally come out of the shadows. To make his presence felt on the Maharashtra political scene. As the new leader of the Shiv Sena. The Bhagwa Saptah, celebrated earlier this month, was his brainchild. An attempt to place before the people of Maharashtra a detailed report card on the Shiv Sena-led alliance government that has ruled the state for the past three and a half years. In an interview with Pritish Nandy, Thackeray Jr spells out the Sena's priorities.

What was the Bhagwa Saptah all about? What were you trying to achieve?

Three and a half years have passed since we came to power. Many things have been done by us during this period but, strangely enough, a communication gap has also taken place. Between the people and us. The reason for this is understandable: We, as a party, were trained to be in the Opposition, we were good in that job. But in government, we did not know how to reach out to the people and explain to them what we were doing, how we were planning to put into practice our election promises. That is how the hiatus grew. The communication gap became so serious that Balasaheb and I thought it was time to take the bull by its horns and go to the people of Maharashtra directly, tell them what we are at, what we are hoping to do during the remaining months we have at our disposal.

But why now? Was there a specific purpose to your timing?

Well, at least, this time no one can say that we are doing it for election purposes. The idea was to list our achievements and tell those who voted for us that we have not failed them. We may not have achieved all that we had originally set out to do but, Pritish ji, we have not failed either. We have done a reasonably good job in power and we felt that it was time to go out and say this to the people. That was the purpose behind the Bhagwa Saptah. To show our report card to those who voted us to power.

What was the response? How did people react to your meetings in rural Maharashtra? Bombay seemed to, by and large, ignore it. Why? Why do you have a problem with the urban media?

You are right. The English media has, by and large, ignored the Bhagwa Saptah. But that is because the English press, particularly in Bombay, has always been hostile to the Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance government. They have never given us a fair deal, a fair coverage. They are biased from the very beginning.

The response in rural Maharashtra was, however, way beyond our expectations. It was raining miserably wherever we went. The skies were overcast. The grounds were full of water and slush. We were running late at most places. But people turned up in tens of thousands to welcome us, listen to us, respond to us, laugh with us, cheer us on. It was incredible. In a sense, it was an eye-opener for me. It showed me how much love and goodwill Balasaheb still commands all over the state.

Despite the fact that we have been in power for three and a half years now and there have been many acts of omission and commission.

You would be also surprised by how politically literate rural Maharashtra is. They were laughing at Clinton, Monica jokes. They were angry with Mulayam Singh for asking the government to give a Rs 20 billion grant to Pakistan. They knew who this Osama bin Laden was and how he has promised to liberate Kashmir in one year. They are as prepared as you and I about Nostradamus's prediction for 1999, when he said that a huge war will start in Asia, quickly spread and engulf the entire world in flames.

Do you believe in these kind of mad predictions?

You know that Balasaheb has been saying for a long time that, if we are not careful, India might suddenly find itself in the thick of a civil war. Now with Laden out there in Afghanistan, exacerbating the tension in Kashmir and building up his private army of terrorists, all swearing by Islamic fundamentalism, this whole subcontinent is sitting on a powder keg.

But the powder keg may not be lit by terrorism. It may be lit simply by the economic recession which has driven Pakistan to the edge of bankruptcy and India into greater turmoil. Do we not need to build a stronger, more free, more stable economy first?

I completely agree with you. The Indian economy needs serious, very serious attention. But what we in the Sena believe is that the state must first address the problems of the poorest of the poor. That is why we issued property cards to the villagers. So that they are not harassed by rich land owners, by the bureaucracy. That is why we have built millions and millions of toilets in rural Maharashtra. Not public toilets but toilets at home so that the women folk need not go through the humiliation of using public places to answer the call of nature.

I still remember that when we used to drive through rural Maharashtra during our election campaigns, at the dead of night, we would see women folk squatting on both sides of the road, their faces covered in shame. I promised myself that if we ever came to power, we would make sure that every village in Maharashtra had toilets. It was a matter of izzat for our women folk.

But your effort to give free homes to slum-dwellers in Bombay and free electricity to farmers in rural Maharashtra has come in for a lot of flak from your own alliance partner, the BJP?

I do not want to enter these controversies again but my view and the views of Balasaheb Thackeray are very clear: We must do what is good for the poor of Maharashtra. They need our attention first. Not the rich and the powerful. But the poorest of the poor.

(State Housing Minister) Sureshdada Jain has made a 15-minute video on the proposed slum rehabilitation project. Watch it. I will send you a copy. Show it to everyone you know, including slum-dwellers, and you will see the response. People who have actually benefited from this project have gone on record to defend it. That is the truth. What the people want. The people who are affected. Not what the newspapers want. Not what politicians want. The people of Bombay must decide what is best for them and we will implement it. That is our mandate. That is our promise.

The same applies to the farmers in rural Maharashtra. We have done much, much more for them than the Congress ever did. We have paid them money. More money than they have ever received before. Check with (Minister of State Radhakrishna) Vikhe-Patil ji. He can give you all the details. We are encouraging them to do crop insurance. We have, in certain parts of the state, even brought in Israeli technology to do drip irrigation and double the yield of the land.

Giving them free power is just an extension of our commitment to farmers and the rural poor who need a lot of help, particularly this season when the rains are simply refusing to stop. The crop is being damaged. The rural economy is going through difficult times. We need to lend it all help possible so that rural Maharashtra prospers. Without their prosperity, we will have further problems in the cities. In Bombay in particular.

Do you think the Shiv Sena is losing its power base in Maharashtra?

No. Emphatically no. My travels throughout the state during the Bhagwa Saptah made this very apparent. People want us to do more, true. But they are certainly not unhappy with the work we have done.

Do you think you will win the next election?

Certainly.

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