New Delhi : Muralidhar Mohol was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time and was given the charge of Minister of State for Cooperation and Aviation in Prime Minister Modi's cabinet. Was Pune Lok Sabha MP Muralidhar Mohol expected to get this responsibility? The opportunity to work with Union Minister for Cooperation Amit Shah, preparing for the upcoming assembly elections, what is his vision as a Union Minister working for Pune, Maharashtra and the country? He first had a detailed conversation with 'Pudhari' regarding all these things. This exclusive interview conducted by Prashant Waghaye, New Delhi representative of 'Pudhari'…
Q: Ganesh Mandal activist, corporator, mayor, MP and now a Union minister… what are the feelings looking back on this journey?
Muralidhar Mohol: This has been my socio-political journey for the last 30 years. First of all, I thank the party and the party leadership for this. I have been elected by the people of Pune to the Municipal Corporation 4 times and now to the Lok Sabha. I am grateful to the party, the party leadership, the workers, the people of Pune. I have worked as a booth level worker, Ganesh Mandal worker. The team is a volunteer. As a worker, I have experienced all the work like checking voter list, painting walls, putting up boards, distributing tickets, there were many ups and downs. Learned many things from this. This journey which started 30 years ago has reached here today. Making a small activist a minister of the country can happen only in BJP. The satisfaction of this journey so far is sure. Now the responsibility given as a minister is huge.
Q: Pune MP got ministerial post after more than 3 decades, union ministership including cooperation and civil aviation accounts expected?
Muralidhar Mohol: All this is unexpected, basically it was unexpected that I would become a minister, so there was no question of where to get the accounts. As a worker, the responsibility that has been received so far. Tried to do justice to him. In addition to being a corporator, standing committee chairman, mayor, he got the responsibility of being the party's West Maharashtra in-charge and state general secretary. After that now there is a great opportunity, an opportunity to serve Maharashtra and the country along with Pune has been given by the party and the people of Pune, it will also be given honest justice.
Question: You were the mayor of Pune, exactly then during the Corona period. Handled the city in that difficult situation, worked at the national level in the mayor's council, was this work useful in getting the ministerial post?
Muralidhar Mohol: It's natural! What you do, how you behave, whether you do justice to the responsibility given to you, whether there is communication and coordination with people, whether people like the work you have done, where you are falling short, it is known in the election. Worked as the first citizen of the city, as the head of the family during the Corona period. It wasn't just a position to look after, I was looking at that responsibility as the guardian of my city. Trying to save everyone's life in the city of Pune, which has a population of 60 lakhs, was the biggest responsibility. If I was not in the field, the system would have thought while working, if I had stopped, the system would have stopped. This was a collective success of the entire system including me, police, NGOs, municipal officials and employees. I also got the opportunity to work as the Vice President of the Mayor's Council. When I was mayor there was a program of Mayor's Council through the Ministry of Urban Development. I was one of the only two mayors in the country who got the opportunity to speak in that event in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in front of all the mayors of the country. I wanted to talk about cleanliness and health. I spoke on participation of city citizens in sanitation and health system, solid waste management. This occasion provided an opportunity to speak at the national level and represent Pune. It was an important and happy moment. Perhaps all these are being evaluated somewhere without knowing.
Q: You have had the opportunity to work with the country's Cooperation Minister Amit Shah. What is your vision for how you will take advantage of this for Maharashtra?
Muralidhar Mohol: Maharashtra has a large network of co-operatives, co-operatives are the soul of the state. Almost 25% of the number of cooperatives in the country are in Maharashtra alone. So there is a lot of scope to work till the last man of the society in this field in Maharashtra and in the country. What is special is that I have the opportunity to work under the guidance of Amit Shah, I have come to see him as a role model, it was a pleasure to meet him, now I will get the opportunity to work with him, under his guidance. I consider myself lucky for this, I'm going to learn a lot from this, I'm very happy, a little pressured. Because there should be no mistakes in the work, there should be work in the right direction, I want to fulfill their expectations. This is a mantra from cooperation to prosperity. Accordingly, this is a very big opportunity to work in all the places that come in cooperative sector including farmers, ustod workers, sugar factories, dairy industry in Maharashtra. Accordingly, through cooperation, we want to fulfill the expectations of the country, farmers and the last man in the society.
Question: Western Maharashtra has a large network of cooperatives. Sharad Pawar's NCP and Ajit Pawar's NCP also have a large number of co-operatives, do you think BJP chose you as the Minister of State for this department so that they can keep an eye on them in your form or those institutions will come under BJP's control?
Muralidhar Mohol: I don't think there is any such angle. Because Prime Minister Narendra Modi says that once you are elected, you belong to everyone. So the government of the country is for every citizen of the country. I am going to work as the Minister of State for the two departments of Cooperation and Civil Aviation. Elections are for one day, Maharashtra is to prosper through cooperation. And I am thinking that what can I contribute, how can I do maximum work. And cooperative societies are not only with NCP. BJP also has many cooperative societies from village level to district bank. Many leaders of our party have done tremendous work in cooperation. And we are going to work as a government, we are going to try to give justice to every person in the country. This is our duty as a government.
Question: The issue of Pune airport has been pending for the past few years, there is the issue of a new airport in Purandar, will both these things be completed through you?
Muralidhar Mohol: Of course! As central government we are going to work for the country. But we had to pay close attention to where we come from. Finally there is a priority. I want to do a lot of work on speeding up the work regarding the airports of Pune, Navi Mumbai, Purandar, acquiring land, solving technical problems, coordinating with the state government and sorting out these issues urgently.
Question: Before going to Pune after taking charge as the Union Minister of State, you met Amit Shah, what was discussed in this meeting?
Muralidhar Mohol: Took charge as Union Minister of State for Co-operation and Civil Aviation. After that he met Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Pune issues were mainly discussed in this. “Discussions were held regarding the soon opening of the new terminal at Pune Airport, a positive decision has been taken to meet the CISF manpower required and under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs soon. Also, there was a detailed discussion regarding the removal of the crashed plane from the 'runway' at the Pune Airport and getting the National Disaster Management Fund to the Pune Municipal Corporation. After a detailed discussion on this, Amit Shah has promised to solve these issues immediately. This has accelerated the commissioning of new terminals. An attempt is being made to provide relief to Punekar passengers by starting this terminal early. Funds from the National Disaster Management Authority of the Central Government to control the flood situation in Pune city were pending for some time. Various works will be done across the city from the funds received from the National Disaster Management Authority under Amit Shah's Home Ministry. When the issue was raised in the meeting that this fund should be received immediately for the planning of rain water drainage and flood control in the city, Shah showed positive attitude and said that the funds will be allocated immediately.
Question: What will be Union Minister of State Muralidhar Mohol's vision for Pune?
Muralidhar Mohol: The ministership that I got is the honor of every Punekar. I got this honor after Vitthalrao Gadgil who was elected to Lok Sabha from Pune. So people have expectations. Local Swaraj Sanstha, State Government, Central Government will have to work together. Metro network is to be expanded in the city. There is a plan to work together with PMPL and Metro to enable public transport. There are two cantonment boards in Pune namely Khadki and Pune Cantonment, the citizens of there want to work there due to the difficulties they face regarding various facilities. This is a policy issue at the country level. For the public transport system, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, 3500 e-buses have been received under Phase 2, which is to increase the number of buses. Want to work in Pune-Mumbai Railway. Will work on whether the number of trains can be increased, whether Pune can be connected to some other cities. In short, Pune has to develop comprehensively.
Q: How will you be prepared in the wake of the upcoming assembly elections? Because you have only two MPs in West Maharashtra?
Muralidhar Mohol: After the Lok Sabha elections, our preparations for the assembly elections have started. The state level meetings of the party have started. I am already working in the organization as an in-charge in West Maharashtra. I am responsible for the organization of 58 Vidhan Sabhas. Now it will work both organizationally and politically in the future. For this, we will have to travel, carry out the responsibilities that the party will tell us, work at the local level, we will do all these things.
Question: What are your feelings towards the people of Pune who elected you and sent you to the Municipal Corporation four times before?
Muralidhar Mohol: My political journey of 30 years is because of Pune people. Today I have got a big responsibility. The people of Pune got a big victory in the Lok Sabha. My party is with me, party leadership is with me. But the people of Pune did the actual election. So, I always have love and respect for the people of Pune, I give my word to the people of Pune that I will always serve them with dedication…