I am Balasaheb Thackeray’s follower, people will vote for that: Rahul Shewale

The cityrsquos South Central seat has been the turf of undivided Shiv Sena since the 90s when it sent the late Mohan Rawale to Parliament holding the seat for five terms until Indian National Congress INC leader Eknath Gaikwad took over in 2009 However the seat returned to Sena in 2014 when firsttime Lok Sabha candidate Rahul Shewale won he has held it for the past decadeIn 2019 Shewale garnered 423743 votes in Mumbairsquos South Central constituency defeating Gaikwad who stood second with 272774 votes With areas like Anushakti Nagar Chembur Dharavi Sion Koliwada Wadala and Mahim Shewale describes this seat as the birthplace of Sena However this time around the battle is not between Sena and the INC it is the battle of Sena vs Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray after the split in the party in 2022An interview with ShewaleDo you believe you can still win over the masses without the Thackeray family and with the lsquotraitorrsquo tagI am Balasaheb Thackerays follower and people will vote for that In a previous election it was the votersrsquo attachment to Balasahebrsquos name that secured my seat in Parliament The people in my constituency have a strong affinity for Shiv Sena and Balasaheb given the partyrsquos deep roots here Additionally the Modi wave contributed to my victory last timeI am also a follower of Babasaheb Ambedkarrsquos ideologyIt is also worth remembering that the Shiv Sena name and the party symbol are behind me I am also backed by the party that made Ram Mandir possible and scrapped Article 370Regarding being labelled a traitor I was elected to Parliament through the Shiv SenaBJP alliance not with the Congress The actions taken by some MLAs do not reflect our approach My constituents are aware of this We engaged in a monthlong discussion with Uddhav Saheb and tried to convince him to strike another alliance with the BJPCandidates have yet to be declared in some Shiv Sena strongholds such as Thane Do you think this will harm the partyrsquos prospects in this electionThe elections are scheduled for May 20 and as of now there has been no notification Typically we announce all the candidates a few days before the notification so the list will be released soon This wonrsquot give the Opposition any advantage because some of these candidates are already campaigning in their constituencies even though we havenrsquot officially announced themHow do you view Anil Desai your primary opponent from the Thackeray SenaHe is a gentleman and I have respect for him We are friends However he has spent most of his political career sitting at Shiv Sena Bhavan and not on the field Uddhav Sahabrsquos move to put him as the Lok Sabha candidate from South Central is meant to destroy his political careerDo you see any signs of antiincumbency in your constituencyMy performance over the past 10 years speaks volumes Irsquove addressed numerous infrastructurerelated issues improved public transport and enhanced amenities through collaboration with the state government and municipal corporationThe main issue here revolves around redevelopment Numerous projects have been stalled due to developerrelated issues or other reasons Over the past five years Irsquove ensured progress on several fronts Dharavi redevelopment BDD chawl redevelopment and the improvement of refugee colonies in Sion Koliwada and Chembur are among them Given the prevalence of slums SRA projects are of utmost importance My goal is to complete all significant redevelopment initiatives in the next termHow do you address the concerns raised by residents of DharaviPeople want development in Dharavi There are two different populations there one which fits the eligibility criteria as they were able to furnish documents and the other are those who are not as they do not have documents The project will be providing housing even to the ineligible population only that they will be shifted elsewhere and not in the same areaUddhav Thackerayrsquos Dharavi model for dealing with COVID19 garnered significant praise How do you reflect on that periodThe management of COVID19 in Dharavi was a success because of me and I was sidelined by the Thackeray family Not once was I credited for any work done and instead Uddhavji praised ward officers like Kiran Dighavkar This was one of the main reasons for leaving I was the one who provided vaccine access to people there brought in health education programmes arranged for ration kits and facilitated the journey of migrant labourers in Dharavi back to their homes All this as the leadership was not venturing outMy anger towards Uddhavji is more because of this no credit or not a single word of appreciation for all the efforts I took All the credits were only taken by him and Aaditya Thackeray