NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
SOUTH ASIA
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
THE STATES
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES
SEARCH REDIFF

Search the Internet          Tips

Recent Interviews

'We might have to take      part in politics to      fight fundamentalism' - Bishop V Devasahayam 'We will be treated as      as aliens in our own      country' - Rt Rev Dr L P Dorairaj 'The democratic basis      of the election was'      badly undermined' - I A Rehman 'We would like      Musharraf to quit' - Maulana Fazlur Rehman 'I am not incompetent - Sher Bahadur Deuba

As dissidents in the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh threaten to pull out of the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party government, Rajnath Singh, general secretary of the party, has been given the task of placating the legislators.

The legislators have been demanding that the BJP pull its ministers out of the state government and support the BSP from outside, as the latter is doing to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre.

Singh, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, was in Mumbai recently to participate in the BJP's national convention. In an interview with Vijay Singh, he said the BJP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh would go beyond the assembly and the two parties would jointly contest the next parliamentary election as well. Excerpts:

The BJP lost the election in Jammu & Kashmir. What was the reason for this defeat?

The J&K election result was expected. In the last two to three years, our condition in the state was not so good. Therefore we lost the Jammu Lok Sabha by-election recently.

Another reason for our defeat was our alliance at the Centre with the National Conference. The people of J&K were angry with the NC government for its non-performance, and they saw the BJP as a part of the NC in the central government. Therefore we lost, in spite of the fact that we were criticising Farooq Abdullah's government in Jammu & Kashmir.

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and other coalition partners have criticised the Vajpayee government publicly. What is your view on this?

Not all coalition partners of the National Democratic government are criticising the government. Some of them have criticised, but I don't agree with their observations.

Many BJP MLAs from Uttar Pradesh are not satisfied with the recent Cabinet reshuffle carried out by Chief Minister Mayawati. They say only members of senior state BJP leader Lalji Tandon's group have been taken in the ministry.

There is no groupism in the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. I just want to say that partymen should not go to the media to express their anger. If any injustice has been done to them, they have to talk and make the leadership aware of this.

What is going on in UP is not new. Whenever a ministry is expanded by any government, the MLAs who don't get berths are naturally angry and dissatisfied.

Don't you think groupism in the BJP will create many Kalyan Singhs and Shankarsinh Vaghelas [both senior leaders broke away from the party] in the coming days?

There is no groupism in the BJP. The BJP is only a national party where internal democracy exits. But internal democracy can't be called indiscipline. There are many political parties where one cannot express views freely. We are not like that.

Caste and religion play a major role in UP politics. Don't you think this type of tradition should stop?

I always agree that politics should not be based on religion or caste. It should be based on justice and work.

Uttar Pradesh is facing great financial distress. How is it then that your party is still supporting the expensive Ambedkar Park project? Isn't it misuse of public money?

(Long pause) I have many big responsibilities nowadays. So I am not well aware of what's going on in Uttar Pradesh.

The Mayawati government has reversed the much-hyped job reservation policy implemented by your government in Uttar Pradesh.

She is the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. She can do what she feels. I am very busy nowadays in party work at the Centre. So I am not aware of the happenings in UP.

Will the BJP-BSP coalition in UP work for a long time? Is there any likelihood of such a coalition with the BSP in other states also?

The BJP and the BSP have a coalition government in UP. So the central parliamentary board [of the BJP] has decided that the BSP-BJP will contest the coming Lok Sabha election together in Uttar Pradesh on a seat-adjustment basis. I can tell you only about Uttar Pradesh for now.

The BJP says it is against the entry of criminals in politics. But people like Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, the MLA from Kunda, are considered very close to you.

Yes, we are opposed to the criminalisation of politics. Raghuraj Pratap Singh is an independent MLA. He is not a member of the BJP.

What is your reaction to Narendra Modi's Gaurav Yatra in Gujarat? Will it help the BJP win the next election in the state? Was this an appropriate time for such a yatra?

I don't understand why so much controversy has been created about this Gaurav Yatra. Whenever an election comes, every political party wants to reach out to the masses through a yatra, the media, or through meetings.

The Gujarat election is very close, so naturally we would like to convey our message to the masses. Therefore this yatra is essential. But I think some people don't like the name Gaurav Yatra. I have no idea why. People are not upset by the yatra, but are more upset by Sonia Gandhi's remark --- that this is Godse's Gujarat rather than Mahatma Gandhi's and Sardar Patel's Gujarat.

Do you think leaders like Shankarsinh Vaghela, who have grown up in the traditions of the RSS and BJP, will make it tough for you to win the Gujarat election?

Shankarsinh Vaghela was ousted from our party long back and the Congress has accepted him now. Vaghela's acceptance by the Congress shows that there is a leadership crisis in the Gujarat Congress.

In Gujarat, there is a big queue in front of the Congress head office for election tickets. Many old BJP faces are also in the queue. Is it because they are unsure of the BJP's victory?

There might be some people in the BJP who are not old party members and have a bad public image. Perhaps that is the reason they are shifting their loyalties, knowing that they won't get a BJP ticket. So it's not proper to say that BJP members are running towards the Congress for tickets.

On what agenda will the BJP contest the Gujarat election?

The work done by our state government in the last five years, whether by Keshubhai Patel or Narendra Modi. We will contest the election on the performance of the state government. We don't want to cheat the people of Gujarat. We will contest the coming election on the performance of the state government only.

VHP leader Pravin Togadia used some foul words against Sonia Gandhi. What is your stand on this?

I feel people should be respectful towards their rivals. As far as Togadia's remarks are concerned, I don't know what he did say and in what context. So it is better if you ask him about it.

Image: Rahil Shaikh

The Rediff Interviews