Exclusive | Lok Sabha elections 2024: ‘There’s no sympathy for Pawar Sr, Uddhav’

AS we wait for BJP candidate Udayanraje Bhosale at his abode Jalmandir Palace hordes of supporters of the direct descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj gather to greet him outsideThe political temperature is soaring in the Satara Lok Sabha constituency where Bhosale is taking on NCP SP candidate Shashikant Shinde The supporters of the Mahayuti candidate whom they reverently call Maharaj feel that Shinde will be defeated by a heavy marginIn a brief interview with midday Bhosale opened up about his campaign and how he plans to overcome challenges ExcerptsHow has your campaign been receivedThe response is overwhelming extraordinary The response is so humongous it clearly shows that the people are my sideWhat is your take on the sitting MPDuring his tenure he did not do any work and the people are quite upset as a lot of work is pendingYour opponentrsquos campaign slogan is lsquoMaan gaadi la maat tutari la Respect the throne vote for the trumpetmdashthe symbol of the NCPSPrsquo Do l you think this will have an impactWhat he says and what he does is none of my concern Respect for the throne will always be there not because of me but because of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj I live in a democratic setup which I have accepted So just like my opponent I am a normal citizen Maybe in my previous life I must have done good deeds because of which I was I was lucky to be born into this royal familyNCPSP chief Sharad Pawar has been holding a series of rallies across western Maharashtra including in your constituency What do you think will be the impact of these ralliesHis visits are not going to change the situation in my constituency because the people are with me If he wanted to hold so many rallies in my constituency he shouldrsquove stood against me in place of his partyrsquos existing candidateWill the Maratha and Dhangar reservation issue have an impactThis issue was first raked up by some people long ago At the time we were in school Being a generation ahead these are the people who are responsible for raking up all these reservation issues In March 1994 after a mere notification government resolution increasing the percentage of reservation from 14 per cent to 30 per cent in the OBC Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes categories these people created such chaosWhat are the key issues in your constituency and what is your visionOnce elected my focus would be to bring in a lot of skill development industries and IT parks I have already spoken to people who are interested in bringing in opportunities about this The Krishna river flows through my constituency and I have plans to solve the issue of water scarcity and introduce irrigationrelated schemes for farmersDo you think there is a sympathy wave among the voters for Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav ThackerayFor all these years when they were in power they did nothing for the people and the people are fed up with them Slogans such as lsquoGaribi hatao desh bachaorsquo and lsquoJai Jawan Jai Kisanrsquo were coined by them Congress but were implemented in reality by the BJP and its allies Now these leaders are saying that they will get sympathy from the people but it wonrsquot happen because they never work for the people Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar were discarded by their own party members because they were negative and not interested in doing any constructive projects I donrsquot think there is any sympathy for both of them