HT interview | ‘INDIA bloc must stick together after June 4,’ says Sharad Pawar

PUNE: The debate on wealth redistribution is “entirely foolish” but a caste census is the imperative of the day for reservation to be recalibrated, said Nationalist Congress Party (SP) president Sharad Pawar. In an interview to Hindustan Times, the Maratha stalwart who has been campaigning tirelessly in the 10 seats his party is contesting in alliance with the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT), also spoke about the future of the INDIA bloc post June 4. Disparate parties, he emphasized, must put aside differences after the elections to save Parliamentary democracy. Excerpts from the interview:
What are the big issues in this election, and how is it different from the previous two elections?
The issue of development is missing in this election, particularly in Mr Modi’s speeches. The prime minister of the country is an institution and we must respect that institution. But the gentleman who is there—when he sees he is not getting adequate support—he tries to divert people’s attention away from the issue of development…I cannot understand how the prime minister of a country can talk about taking women’s mangalsutras and Hindus and Muslims in this manner. Is this a national issue? Follow full coverage of the Lok Sabha elections here.
What is your view of the idea of wealth redistribution? It has become a campaign issue.
I don’t think this is an issue, or even the subject of a debate. Everyone knows this is a foolish thing. It’s not something the public at large wants to raise or discuss. For them, rising prices is an issue, unemployment is an issue but this gentleman is just diverting attention from these crises and talking about wealth redistribution.
In your manifesto, released on Thursday, you have spoken about the need for a caste census and expanding the ambit of reservation. Is this feasible?
Until and unless we can collect and collate proper information about the total number of backward castes we will not be able to resolve their issues. Take the issue of Maratha reservation for instance. As you know OBCs get certain leniencies but Marathas don’t get them uniformly across Maharashtra. My own relatives in Vidharbha get reservation benefits as Kunbis whereas I as a Maratha don’t get the same in Pune. There is significant agricultural distress. Maratha farmers’ land holdings are getting smaller by the day, survival is getting difficult and that’s why one has to find something, and that something is reservation. Tamil Nadu did this but then the Supreme Court stepped and capped it at 50 per cent. But Parliament can change this by two-thirds majority and we can provide relief to the weaker sections.
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It’s the BJP’s claim that they want to end political dynasties. As a party leader said they began with A for Amethi and now it will be B for Baramati. Why not begin instead with Eknath Shinde’s son who is the MP from Kalyan?
How do you see the Baramati contest?
My understanding is that the central government is using its full might (to defeat Supriya Sule). All agencies are active and there is a lot of monetary strength on display too. One will have to see how it will play out.
Would you ever consider a rapprochement with Ajit Pawar?
Not as long as they are in Narendra Modi’s BJP.
Because the BJP succeeded in breaking two strong regional parties?
I accept that they have succeeded in breaking the two parties and they could do it because they are at the centre, but it’s also because Narendra Modi’s thinking is different. Had Atal Bihari Vajpayee been in power, he would not have done such a thing.
Ajit Pawar recently said if Sharad Pawar passes on the baton of the party to the younger generation there might be a possibility of a reconciliation.
The younger generation in my party is more aggressively against those who have gone with the BJP. Except for his immediate family, no one else in my family is supporting them.
You are an intrinsic part of the INDIA alliance. But there have been several hits and misses. Nitish Kumar’s defection for one…
I am sorry to say but Nitish Kumar is an opportunist. About the other members of the INDIA bloc, we may not be working together during elections, for instance Mamata Banerjee, but general thinking is that after polls, we have to stick together. Whether there is majority or not, we have to work together. If we don’t work together, parliamentary democracy will be in jeopardy.