Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, whose party suffered a body blow with the defection of six MPs to the ruling Shiv Sena, alleges that the BJP wants to shore up the NDA government’s numbers to push through the delimitation bill at the centre. The endgame, he claims, is to increase the Lok Sabha representation of North India while crushing the voice of Maharashtra and that of the southern states. The BJP also wants to amend the Constitution to push its own agenda, he says.Aaditya Thackeray (HT Photo)To achieve these twin goals, he claims, the BJP is using deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, who “bought” the rebel MPs. The party is also raising Shinde’s equity as a section within the BJP wants to keep Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis out of the race for prime ministership. They want Shinde to keep him in check, said Aaditya Thackeray in an exclusive interview to Shailesh Gaikwad.Excerpts from the interview.Six of your MPs defected, your close aide Sachin Ahir departed. What is going on with the party?As far as the six MPs are concerned, it is clear. The BJP wants to introduce the delimitation bill again and is trying to get the desired majority. It wants to crush the voice of Maharashtra along with the southern states as the number of seats in the north will increase significantly. Second, it wants to change the basics of our Constitution, which gives us voice and fundamental rights. These are the BJP’s two goals.The MPs did not switch for ideology. They were bought out by Mindhe (Eknath Shinde) to empower the BJP to bring in the delimitation bill, which is against the interests of Maharashtra and to change Dr Ambedkar’s Constitution.When it comes to the MLC (Sachin Ahir), that was another business deal. The sad part is politics is now so commercialised that MPs and MLAs can be bought for a price.Most of those who defected say they did not see a revival of your party; neither the party chief nor you were active on the ground; and there wasn’t sufficient interest in local elections.They were elected on the face of Uddhav Thackeray. Congress-NCP (SP) leaders campaigned for them. They were elected on an anti-BJP vote. Let’s say we didn’t meet them, as alleged. What about Arvind Kejriwal, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee? Don’t they meet their MPs? Still, there parties were split. As MPs, MLAs, they are local leaders. Why didn’t they stage protests on ground over local issues? The truth is, that they put a price tag on themselves and sold out.The MPs also said they were not getting funds for development, so they had to switch to the ruling parties.This is the partisan nature of the BJP-led governments in the state and at the centre. They block development funds of opposition MPs and MLAs. Still, the MPs should explain why they failed to fully utilise their local area development fund. The Mumbai north-east MP utilised only 1.5% of the funds allotted to him. it would make sense if they used these funds for the people, and then asked for more. Here, they want funds for themselves, not for their constituencies.You have been saying ‘Operation Tiger’ is actually ‘Operation Fadnavis’. Are you shifting the blame?Look at Fadnavis’s body language, look at the balance of power in the government. The fact is, just like Nitinji Gadkari was denied a third term as party chief, just like Shivraj ji Chouhan was denied chief ministership even after he led the party to victory in MP, some elements in the BJP want Fadnavis in the Union cabinet to clip his wings. They want to make sure he is not the party’s prime ministerial face in the 2029 polls. This benefits Shinde because his single-point agenda is to become chief minister again.The opposition in the state looks weak. It has a presence neither on the ground nor in the legislature.We have been protesting for the farm loan waiver, against the NEET paper leak, the TET cancellation and even the MPSC goof-up. We are doing our job but this is not being reported by the media. Look at the Ayodhya temple irregularities or the Ujjain land scam. What happened in the Ram temple has shaken the faith of us Hindus. We are raising that issue as well. I challenge the defectors to ask the BJP how there can be a scam in the Ram temple or in the holy city of Ujjain.It is being said that your next election from Worli will be tough due to Ahir’s defection.My work speaks for itself. Here, someone has switched loyalties for a price even after being given posts and love by the party. It only shows their lack of culture. The people in 2029 will reject this politics of corruption and defection that is damaging the fabric of India.