Claiming that the NDA will improve on its record of winning 41 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in the 2019 elections despite a strong challenge from the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that any election is not about political arithmetic going and that the coming polls will be. about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's chemistry with the people.
In a wide-ranging interview with NDTV Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia, Mr. Fadnavis on Friday also spoke about the alliance's perceived difficulties in seat-sharing, infrastructure development in Maharashtra and Mumbai, possible new allies and the shortcomings of the previous government led by former alliance partner Uddhav Thackeray.
At 48, Maharashtra sends the second highest number of MPs to the Lok Sabha and when Mr Fadnavis was asked about the complicated politics in the state, given the split in the Shiv Sena and the NCP, he said: “It's not about factions or There are two camps, one that is in favor of Prime Minister Modi and one that is against him. The people have decided to vote for those who support the Prime Minister, regardless of party or symbol.”
On why the BJP had announced the names of 20 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections despite reported difficulties in reaching an agreement on seat-sharing with the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, Mr. Fadnavis said that 80% of the constituencies had been agreed upon and each party was free to announce the names for the same.
Stressing that despite being pro-incumbency, the BJP always works with its allies and takes them along, Mr Fadnavis refused to confirm the number of seats each party has decided to contest, citing the alliance dharma.