New Delhi: Asserting that the Maharashtra Assembly polls were not a “kaun banega mukhyamantri” contest but a fight to form an MVA government, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday said the coalition’s chief ministerial pick would be decided in a “smooth” manner after the results.

In an interview with PTI, he also said the Congress was confident of securing a decisive mandate in Jharkhand and Maharashtra but was “extra watchful” to avoid a repeat of any Haryana-like “last-minute mischief” by the BJP and the local administration.

As the campaign heats up for the assembly polls in Jharkhand and Maharashtra, Ramesh dismissed suggestions that the momentum had shifted away from the INDIA bloc following the Congress’ defeat in Haryana and said the alliance was confident of securing a decisive mandate in the two states.

“It is true that the result in Haryana was unexpected as far as the Congress is concerned. We are confident in Maharashtra where we have a very strong alliance, and we are very confident in Jharkhand where also we are fighting in an alliance,” the Congress general secretary in-charge communications said.

“We are confident but we are extra watchful, we don’t want a repeat of the Haryana situation in all the last-minute mischief that can be played by the BJP and the local administration. We are more watchful (this time),” he said.

The Congress has a positive agenda in Jharkhand and the alliance is running on the five years of achievements of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress government, he said.

In Maharashtra, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was destabilised by the BJP after about two years and the Mahayuti dispensation ruled for three years, he said.

Ajit Pawar and several other MLAs broke away from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by his uncle Sharad Pawar and joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state last year.

Prior to that, in June 2022, Eknath Shinde led a section of Shiv Sena MLAs to rebel against the leadership of then party president and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. After the split, the Shinde-led party formed an alliance government with the BJP and he took over as chief minister.

The Mahayuti government of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, BJP, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP has betrayed the people of Maharashtra, particularly the farmers and the weaker sections, Ramesh alleged.

“So we are confident but we are careful and watchful,” he added.

On who the chief minister could be if the MVA won a majority, Ramesh said, “We are not fighting a ‘kaun banega mukhyamantri’ (contest), we are fighting for — whose government will be formed — MVA or that of the Mahayuti. We are fighting for getting a decisive mandate for the MVA and I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that the selection of the CM face will be a smooth affair.” “But that is not the question, it is very premature, we have to get the majority,” he added.

Ramesh asserted that elections in India were not a beauty contest between individuals but a choice between political parties, political alliances, their agendas, their manifestoes and their performance.

On the bickering over seat sharing among INDIA bloc allies in Jharkhand and Maharashtra, Ramesh said it was “natural” as there were a lot of aspirants.

It reflects the fact that there is a lot of enthusiasm for getting tickets from the Congress in both Jharkhand and Maharashtra, he claimed.

“You look at the cracks that have appeared in the Mahayuti alliance. The difference between the BJP on the one side and Ajit Pawar’s NCP on the other and between the BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena are there (before the people). So, I don’t think one can single out the problems in the MVA alliance in seat sharing,” Ramesh said.

Ramesh acknowledged that it was a “tough bargain” among MVA constituents, noting that everybody wanted to maximise their position.

“On November 6, we are going to hold a big rally in Mumbai where all the leaders of the MVA, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and (Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi, will be there. We will be releasing our guarantees for the elections,” he said.

Asked about the criticism of the Congress over not contesting any of the bypolls in Uttar Pradesh, Ramesh said the party’s position had been put forward by general secretary in-charge of the state Avinash Pande and Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ajay Rai.

“We have a very strong INDIA group in Uttar Pradesh that performed very well in the Lok Sabha elections. We worked cohesively and campaigned cohesively. This was done to strengthen our alliance an strengthen the hand of our INDIA partners. I don’t think we are abdicating our political position in Uttar Pradesh,” he asserted.

Ramesh also accused the BJP of resorting to polarisation in its campaign in Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

“The choice of Himanta Biswa Sarma as chief campaigner was a clear signal as to which way the campaign was headed. The Assam chief minister is the master of communal rhetoric. He is the man who uses the worst form of intimidatory and polarising language. We have complained to the Election Commission (EC) and I hope the EC takes note of the campaign speeches of the Assam chief minister,” he said.

It is going to be a BJP campaign of “polarisation, intimidation and spreading hatred and bigotry” because the BJP has no answer to the popular programmes that have been implemented in an impactful manner in Jharkhand, he said.

The real issues in Maharashtra are that of the farmers, of “caste census”, the issue of removing the 50 per cent cap on reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes, Ramesh said.

“These are all the issues the Congress had raised in the Lok Sabha elections and it continues to raise in the assembly elections as well. In Maharashtra, we also have the situation that a last number of investments that had been promised or were scheduled to have been invested in Maharashtra have been hijacked and taken away to Gujarat by Mr Modi,” he alleged.

On Kharge’s comments that Congress state units should make poll promises that were properly budgeted and the BJP’s subsequent attack on the issue, Ramesh said, “I don’t think the Congress president at any time said that we are going to go back on what we had promised. All he said was what we had promised we must deliver, that’s all he said.”

“He said we must deliver and, whatever the cost, we have to bear it, that is the solemn commitment we have made to the people. That was distorted in a mischievous manner by the prime minister and his colleagues,” the veteran Congress leader claimed.

Elections in Jharkhand will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20, while Maharashtra goes to the polls in a single phase on November 20. The results will be declared on November 23.