People have made up their mind for Mahayuti: Piyush Goyal

In an interview with TOI's Sidhartha, Union commerce & industry minister Piyush Goyal , MP from Mumbai and a key BJP functionary, is confident of the Mahayuti alliance winning the Maharashtra polls, arguing people will vote for a coalition that has delivered. Excerpts:

How do you see the prospects in the election? Given the churn isn't the voter confused between MVA and Mahayuti and their candidates?

The writing on the wall is very clear, voters have made up their mind for continuity, whether it is in Marathwada, western Maharashtra, Mumbai. The mood is for a govt that delivers. They recognise that they want to have a govt that works closely in alignment with the central govt. They have experienced two and a half years of a non-performing govt under Mr Uddhav Thackeray ... the CM didn't even go to office. They have seen the way PM Modi, in the first term Fadnavis govt, and then the Shinde-Fadnavis-Ajit Dada govt delivered on infrastructure, slum rehabilitation, and on providing a better quality of life.

There is a feeling among voters that a local party which was in power was ousted.

That was the problem of Congress and not of BJP or Mahayuti. Mahayuti is united very strongly, we had no issues with seat transfer, save a few minor issues. But MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) seems to be a pretty discontent grouping, with no ideological moorings. Mr. Uddhav Thackeray, who once stood for Hindutva, has completely given up the ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray and gone and sat in the lap of of Sharad Pawar and Congress. Here, we see the pitiable state in which Mr. Uddhav Thackeray is in, having to even accept in writing conditionalities of support demanded by the Ulemas. The shameful demands have been accepted even by Sharad Pawar and Congress, which has hurt the people of Maharashtra, and they have made up their mind to teach a lesson to MVA.

Given the stand taken by Ajit Pawar on some of the issues, including the "batenge to kitenge" slogan, doesn't that make him sound like not such a reliable partner?

Not at all, the understanding among coalition partners is very strong. His line is no different from the line of all the partners. We may have differences on one or two candidates.

So the statements, including the one on the meeting between Sharad Pawar and Amit Shah in 2019...

I don't think so. The PM is on record to say that "hum ek hain to safe hain". He has given a strong message that Congress and MVA, which is trying to divide society on the basis of religion, caste, language has to be defeated, otherwise neither is Maharashtra safe, nor is the country.

There is a controversy over the meeting at Adani's place...

It's a non-issue. Location hardly matters, substance is important. Mr Sharad Pawar, who is today opposing Mr Ajit Pawar and Mahayuti, himself was desirous and all MLAs were desirous of joining Mahayuti.

Ladli Bahin allowance will be increased to Rs 2,100. How feasible is it to sustain this expense without impacting other development expenditure and isn't this dole or a revadi?

It's a recognition of the wonderful work our sisters and daughters are doing. It is in the interest of making them self-reliant, empowering them and making sure they don't have to depend on someone for their small day to day needs. This is an empowerment tool and not a dole.

Who will be your CM face after the election should Mahayuti emerge victorious?

It has already been clarified by Amit Shah. Today, the CM is Mr Eknath Shinde and after the election as is the normal process, all three parties will sit down and decide.

There is a feeling that a lot of projects which would have come to Maharashtra have gone to Gujarat.

It is a completely unfounded allegation, and baseless. Maharashtra is number 1 in FDI, infrastructure investments and will continue to be number 1. Toyota is investing in a township... India's largest port is coming up at Wadhawan, a new airport is coming up in Mumbai. We are working in all areas.