'Fear, greed and cowardice have crept into BJP'

'There is no internal democracy in the BJP now.'
'Nobody discusses and hears problems of groups who oppose the leader.'
'The party is busy praising only one leader.'

On Monday, June 26, rebel Rajasthan Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ghanshyam Tiwari resigned from the BJP and floated the Bharat Vahini Party.

While tendering his resignation, the six-time MLA said he would fight against the 'undeclared Emergency' prevailing in the state and country.

Tiwari had been at loggerheads with the Vasundhara Raje government in Rajasthan over a number of issues, including farmers' plight, reservations for the upper castes, and corruption.

"The BJP does not need an enemy if Vasundhara Raje is ruling Rajasthan," Tiwari below, tells Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.

Why did you quit the BJP?

In Rajasthan, the BJP won all the 25 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.

The same was the case in the assembly elections where the people of Rajasthan gave the BJP an absolute majority.

After that the BJP government at the Centre should have done justice to Rajasthan.

Unfortunately, that has not happened in the last four years.

Not a single big project has come to Rajasthan from the Centre.

And instead of solving people's problems, BJP leaders formed a coterie and looted the state for the last four years and six months.

The central leadership, on the other hand, just handed over the power to only one person -- Vasundhara Raje, the chief minister of Rajasthan.

There are other issues -- like democratic institutions were compromised.

Black laws (The Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill to bar the media from naming a public servant accused of wrongdoing until the state government allows the case to be investigated) were made against the media.

I fought against that and made sure Raje rolled back that law.

This created an Emergency-like situation in Rajasthan.

I was one of the persons who had gone to jail during the Emergency and held meetings for the Jan Sangh.

I worked in Rajasthan against the Emergency imposed by (then prime minister) Indira Gandhi.

So I felt I have always been a fighter and a loyal soldier who fought for the values of democracy.

But, today, the same kind of situation has arisen in Rajasthan.

Therefore, I quit the party.

The BJP calls itself a democratic party and attacks the Congress for its dynastic politics. Didn't you raise your apprehensions in party forums?

Kehne ko toh hai democratic (It's just a claim).

The BJP recently lost two Lok Sabha and assembly bypolls in Rajasthan. Did you get an indication that the party is losing popularity on the ground?

The BJP does not need an enemy if Vasundhara Raje is ruling Rajasthan.

The BJP does not need an enemy like the Congress because Raje is destroying the party in Rajasthan.

You were part of her ministry earlier. What went wrong?

I was a part of her ministry and used to object to her wrongdoings then.

I would never allow her to do things as per her wish and always saw that the public interest was taken care of.

What problems did you face in the BJP?

There is no internal democracy in the BJP now.

Nobody discusses and hears problems of other groups who oppose the leader.

The party is busy praising only one leader.

Fear, greed and cowardice have crept into the BJP.

The leaders of the BJP are now slave to one person in Rajasthan. And this is the reason for the downfall of the BJP.

Is Prime Minister Narendra D Modi not aware of this?

The Modi government is busy protecting the Vasundhara Raje government.

The have defended her all the time.

The central government defended Vasundhara and her son (Dushyant Singh, the Lok Sabha MP from Jhalawar) when allegations of land-grabbing came out against them.

Even during the Lalit Modi case, the central government defended Vasundhara Raje.

What are your plans now?

I have chosen a new path by forming a new party.

At my age (67), I can now contribute the remaining days of my political life to serve democracy.

On Tuesday, Mr Modi attacked the Congress, saying it does not value democracy. But you say there is no democracy in the BJP. Isn't it paradoxical?

When India achieved Independence, a question was asked whether democracy was the only right way of life.

The answer was no, because there has to be internal democracy in parties.

And if there is no internal democracy in parties, then democracy will turn into plutocracy.

Now democracy is ruled only by scoundrels and rich people. These people have taken over democracy.

Till the time there is no internal democracy in political parties, real democracy cannot be achieved in India.

Another thing is that institutions have to be saved.

When the media houses opposed the 'black law', the Vasundhara Raje government stopped giving them government advertisements.

They wanted to cripple newspapers as they did not want them to be free and independent.

This is like an undeclared emergency.

Your opponents claim that you never wanted Vasundhara Raje to become chief minister.

There is internal democracy in the party, so people will express their viewpoint.

Opposing someone in a party is an important part of democracy, and more important for the country's democracy.

What will be your new party's objective?

We want Rajasthan to have a clean government and our agenda will be decided on July 3.

Your opponents question the timing of your resignation on the eve of the assembly election.

For the last four years I have been working under the banner of the Deen Dayal Vahini. Our committees have been formed all over Rajasthan.

We have 10 of our workers working in the 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan.

We are meeting them on July 3.

Don't you think the Congress will use your party to cut into the BJP's vote share?

The Congress cannot use me.

The Congress is not that big in stature.