For chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, tackling drought will be a top priority if he returns to power in Maharashtra in the year-end Assembly elections. On the Mahajanadesh yatra in the poll run-up, he told Hindustan Times in an interview that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would stick to its deal with the Shiv Sena though it could have come to power on its own in the state. Edited excerpts:
The biggest challenge for us in Maharashtra is drought. Drought has become a grim reality. In the last six years, we have faced drought or scarcity in five years. If we can bring surplus water that goes waste to our deficit river basins, we can free Maharashtra from drought. That will be our plan.