Prime Minister Narendra Modi held his first rally in Maharashtra for BJP’s Chandrapur candidate and Maharashtra minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, who told CNN-News18 in an exclusive interview what the PM’s ‘Mission 400+’ means to him.
Edited Excerpts:
PM Modi is holding his first rally in Maharashtra to campaign for you. You were not very keen to fight this election.
I have sent a lot of teakwood from my constituency here for the doors of the new Parliament building. Modi-ji wanted me to enter Parliament through those doors. I am fighting these elections due to his insistence. He told me I should focus from West to North. That is what I am doing.
It is well past midnight. Our campaigning goes on till late night every day. We are seeking the blessings of the people of Chandrapur to make sure that we cross the 400-plus target for Modi-ji.
What are the issues on the basis of which you are approaching people?
There are three main issues. Last time, we had given a Shiv Sena candidate from here who had lost. Advocate Rajendra Mahadole of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi had got over one lakh votes. We have brought him with us now.
The last candidate was from Shiv Sena. This time, the Shiv Sainiks, under Eknath Shinde, are with us. About 90 per cent of the NCP cadre is with us. Jogendra Kawade and Ramdas Athawale have supported us.
You can see the work I have done here. I have taken this constituency to the whole country. Chandrapur has gained good traction.
It is my opponent, Congress candidate Pratibha Dhanorkar, who should answer what they have done despite being in power here. What questions did you raise in the Lok Sabha for farmers and for the poor? Even the candidates standing against me is a sitting MLA. What did she do? During Covid-19, we distributed sanitizers and food grains to lakhs of people.
The buzz in your constituency is that caste and liquor will also be the issues here.
I am a man of progress (Vikas). I have brought development to the constituency. I brought a medical college, cancer hospital, military school, and agriculture university. The MIDC in Mul, where no industry was willing to come, has been completely populated. We have done a lot of development work. What have they done? Only open liquor shops.
Caste is only applicable in personal life. It is not applicable in public life.
Do you take interviews looking at the caste of your guest? Will the doctor treat a patient on the basis of the caste? Where is caste in public life? So why should it be a part of politics? Those who do not want the narrative to be around development speak of caste.
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