‘Mahayuti will win 26 of 29 civic bodies; Mumbai will stand by us’: Devendra Fadnavis

“Mumbai has been in our favour because of all the development we have done in the city. We did not only speak but delivered,” says CM in an interview with HT.

As campaigning for the civic body elections, to be held on January 15, came to an end on Tuesday, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis projected optimism about the outcome. He spoke to the media about the Mahayuti’s future plans for the state, and how despite floating a purported fake narrative, the Opposition actually “put up a weak fight”.

Devendra Fadnavis: Mahayuti will win 26 of 29 civic bodies; Mumbai will stand by us

Excerpts from the interview:

After holding 77 rallies and road shows across the state, what is your assessment about voters’ sensibilities?

Mahayuti is winning major municipal corporations, including Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Nashik with a comfortable majority, while in at least 26 bodies, the mayor will be from either of the three ruling parties. I do not want to name the remaining three corporations, as those are relatively difficult for us.

In Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad our major opponent is NCP, but we will not need their support to form the body in both cities.

Do you think the Marathi manoos plank used by the Thackeray cousins is working in Mumbai?

The narrative is not working, as Marathi voters in Mumbai have always stood by the BJP in all elections, if you see the outcome of the Assembly polls. In 2014 and 2024, BJP and Shiv Sena contested the Assembly polls separately and in 2019 in alliance, but BJP retained its tally of 15-16 MLAs in all these elections. Their tally kept changing. Barring the floating voters, the difference between our vote share and theirs is not much.

We are comfortably winning in Mumbai too. Any speech or narrative does not change the environment in the last leg. Mumbai has been in our favour because of all the development we have done in the city. We did not only speak but delivered.

Was the attack on Adani by Raj Thackeray part of a corporate war?

I will not speak, whatever be the truth behind it.

When you speak about the development in Mumbai, major focus remains on setting up a third Mumbai, right?

Yes, after Delhi NCR, the third Mumbai is the largest agglomeration of 575 square kilometers after Pune which is 500 square kilometers. Third Mumbai will have 60% of the data capacity of the state. We are setting up an edu-city, sport city, medi-city and an innovation city here. We are in the process of acquiring land, and getting a good response under the ‘Pass Through’ mechanism. By this method, the government acquires land to hand over to investors. The farmers are responding well too, as the price of land will go up four times after development.

We are developing Navi Mumbai to Pune as global capacity centers – this next wave of development will create the highest number of jobs.

What has been your view of the Opposition parties in this election?

The Opposition could not pose a challenge before us, though they had a fair chance. The voters decide to stand by leaders or a party. But parties must have an eagerness to bounce back. Uddhav and Raj Thackeray did not even campaign outside Mumbai. Their rallies in Thane and Nashik were perfunctory.

Do you think Shiv Sena (UBT) will benefit from Muslim votes?

Both Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) batted for Muslim votes and they may get the benefit, as Muslims are known to do strategic voting against BJP.

How do you look at Raj and Uddhav Thackeray’s reconciliation?

Raj Thackeray would be the biggest loser in this election though Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena (UBT) will reap some benefit.

Was fighting separately in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad strategic?

Going solo in the twin cities was a strategic move as both BJP and NCP have similar strength. Had we joined hands, the Opposition could have grabbed the space. Although fighting separately, we had decided not to attack each other. Ajit Pawar however did not abide by the pact.

The two NCPs led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar have joined hands in Pune. Will they come together in the near future?

They are contesting in alliance in just two bodies. They have not merged officially. This is more of a local phenomenon – leaders from both sides are trying to project that they are fighting together to keep their flock together.

If they come together in the future, we will think about it at that time.

Yet, bearing in mind the 2019 experience – when (an undivided) Shiv Sena joined hands with Congress and NCP to form MVA -- I am cautious about the development and not dismissing any possibility.

There has been criticism over alliance with Congress and AIMIM in Ambernath and Akot. Was that a mistake?

The Akot and Ambernath incidents are isolated ones. In Ambernath, the Congress preempted the action and suspended its 12 councillors, who later joined us. Four of Congress’s councillors were originally BJP workers and wanted to join us after the elections.

In Akot, we did not join hands with AIMIM, but NCP forged an alliance with them locally.

You used development as an election plank, but the India Shining plank failed in 2004 LS elections.

India Shining, coined by our leader Pramod Mahajan, in 2004-LS elections was ahead of its time. Voters did not understand the concept of GDP at the time. The situation is different now. Of all the issues to be resolved, development is key.

There was an uproar over the unopposed election in 68 seats, which the Opposition put down to misuse of power.

The ‘unopposed elections’ were not by threat or allurement. We won the highest seats unopposed in KDMC because of a similar event in 2017. The Opposition did not even get a candidate against their arch rival Kirit Somaiya’s son Neil in Mulund. It is a fake narrative set by the Opposition.