'Shinde Saheb Is A Fighter'

'We pressurised Shinde saheb (to accept the deputy chief ministership).'
'Being out of power would have made him weaker.'

Deepak Kesarkar is a close confidante of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde of the Shiv Sena. Kesarkar, a former minister, missed out on a ministerial berth this time.

"Khoop lok tyanchyavar pressure aanat astat (lots of MLAs have been pressurising Eknath Shinde for ministries). Aapan aani kay karaycha (I don't want to put more pressure on him)," the soft-spoken Kesarkar -- a four-time MLA from Sawantwadi in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district -- tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com.

Is Eknath Shinde facing the displeasure of many Shiv Sena aspirants who were not made ministers?

There is nothing big happening here. Tanaji Sawant (one of the many MLAs who supported Eknath Shinde's rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray in June 2022 and who later became the health and family welfare minister in Shinde's cabinet) is upset but (Vijay) Shivtare (who was minister of water resources) is not too upset.

The Shiv Sena is not facing a huge problem and very soon most of it will be resolved by Shinde saheb.

We are facing a problem of plenty because compared to 2022 (when 39 MLAs supported Shinde's rebellion and broke up the Shiv Sena) we now have many more (57 MLAs) MLAs who won on a Shiv Sena ticket.

Shinde saheb has already said that after two-and-half-years the ministers will be appraised based on their development work.

Narendra Bhojraj Bhondekar, the Shiv Sena MLA from Bhandara has already rebelled accusing Eknath Shinde of reneging on his promises.

While the big numbers in favour of the Mahayuti definitely pose some problems there is nothing that cannot be resolved. Everybody will be accommodated.

We all know that (chairpersons of) big corporations (under the government of Maharashtra's jurisdiction) have the status of cabinet ministers.

While you took some time to join hands with Eknath Shinde, once you joined him you became the most articulate face before the media defending and justifing the rebellion and the BJP and Eknath Shinde coming together to form a government.
Given your role were you not expecting a cabinet berth?

It is not true. Let me be very honest. Khoop lok tyanchyavar pressure aanat astat (lots of MLAs have been pressurising Eknath Shinde for ministries). Aapan aani kay karaycha (I don't want to put more pressure on him).

What is it that makes you so cool?

It is the experience that comes to you when you have worked at various positions, important or otherwise. It is not important that you must be a minister always.

What responsibilities will you shoulder now in the Shiv Sena?

I don't know. Let my party decide, but I'll work more in the Konkan region now.

Is it that Nitesh Rane was accommodated in your place and you were sidelined?

It is not like that. He's young. Let him lead.

Do you mean that Nitesh Rane is young and he should lead in the Konkan region?

In Konkan there are so many leaders. Even Eknath Shindeji is from the Konkan region as Thane district is also part of Konkan. So, he (Nitesh Rane) can lead (in) the district. Let us see how he handles things. I'll be always there to support him.

Don't you feel bad that Narayan Rane and his sons, with whom you have fought half your life when you were in the undivided Shiv Sena, are being projected as future leaders in the Shiv Sena?

I share good relations with them now.

But you have fought half of your life against them in Sindhudurg?

That is true. But you cannot always keep on fighting. You have to think about development also.

What kind of development do you think should come Konkan's way now? How many portfolios will Konkan get?

As per my estimation, the maximum resources available in Maharashtra are in Konkan. There is the coastal line of 700 km.

Tourism, which is a major industry all over the world, has huge potential in Konkan.

In terms of horticulture, it is number one in Maharashtra. Without any major industries, my district (Sindhudurg) is number fifth in terms of per capita income.

It is basically horticulture, agriculture, fishing, tourism. If you concentrate well, you can perform well.

You will have to give result to your region as well. That's what matters to people ultimately.

You've been very close to Eknath Shinde who was reluctant to be deputy chief minister. Could you tell us what was going on in his mind and why did he accept the deputy chief minister's post?

He is a fighter. He has worked up his way as a fighter and someone who believes in hard work. He wanted to build a party because it was a division of the Shiv Sena. He wants to strengthen the party further at the grassroots level. He wants to make our organisation very sound.

That's why he wanted to be out of power and concentrate more on building the organisation because it was the strength of the Shiv Sena. It was a cadre based party.

Who made Eknath Shinde change his mind?

All of us (elected MLAs). We pressurised him. Being out of power would have made him weaker from a political standpoint. He can do the same thing (build the Shiv Sena as an organisation) while being in power also. That is our strong feeling.

Who will rebuild the party now? Who will strengthen the party in Maharashtra?

Shindeji will do it. He works a lot and that makes a difference.

There were reports about pressure on Eknath Shinde from the BJP's central leadership to accept the deputy chief minister's post and not be adamant with his demand for the home ministry portfolio. Is that true?

No, it is not like that. In Maharashtra, the home ministry always used to be with the (alliance) partner party. Like the Congress had the chief minister and (the undivided) NCP always had the home portfolio for a very long time. This rule was followed (by the Congress-NCP alliance) for 17-and-a-half years.

During the tenure (between 2014 and 2019) of honourable Fadnavis saheb the home ministry was retained by him.

Ultimately what I feel --- I have been working as a minister of state for home for at three years in Maharashtra (between 2016 and 2019 when the undivided Shiv Sena was in alliance with the BJP) -- is that the CM (not just the home minister) has equal control over the home department.

Why is the home department so crucial that the BJP didn't want to share it with its alliance partner? Why is the home minister so crucial in Maharashtra?

Had it been so crucial then the Congress would have not been parting it with the NCP.

It is everybody's thinking (on who gets which portfolio) that matters. I don't see any difficulty and with my experience as MoS, home, I know that all the transfer of IPS officers are cleared by the CM. Then the internal security meetings are always conducted under the chairmanship of the chief minister and everyday there's a briefing from the home department to the CM.

At one of your public meetings in Sawantwadi you said that this was your last election.

There is no retirement (for a political leader). As far as (fighting) assembly (election) is concerned, this time I was wishing to fight a Parliament election.

The candidate which the ruling party (the BJP) had (would have nominated for the assembly election), people didn't like him. So everybody insisted that 'If you leave your constituency then it may go to that person and we don't want that person. Don't fight the Parliament election.'

How do you look at the troubles within the Mahayuti over the distribution of ministerial berths? Leaders like Chhagan Bhujbal and Sudhir Mungantiwar are upset.

They are all senior ministers, so I cannot make any comment on that. But the Mahayuti will accommodate them because Fadnavis saheb is a very efficient administrator. He has absolute control over the administration.