'In today's political spectrum, it is the Bharatiya Janata Party that always says, nation first.'
In a bid to capture power in Kerala, the Bharatiya Janata Party's state unit is enlisting high-profile Malayalis including retired bureaucrats and defence personnel.
Metro Sreedharan was one such personality who unsuccessfully contested the assembly elections last time.
With businessman and former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar appointed as the BJP's new state president, the party is going after more and more well-known names.
The latest to join the BJP is retired Colonel Sashidharan Dinny who served as an Indian Army infantry (Rajput Regiment) officer for more than 20 years.
After serving multiple tenures in the Kashmir valley, the North East and along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, the colonel retired from the army and settled in Kollam in Kerala.
"Our aim is to come to power in Kerala in 2026. There will be a paradigm shift in the way elections will be fought and also in the outcome in 2026," Colonel Dinny (retd) tells Rediff's Shobha Warrier.
Has Rajeev Chandrasekhar taking over as president of the Kerala state BJP a reason for you joining the BJP now?
Rajeev Chandrasekharji becoming the Kerala BJP president is definitely one of the important factors that made join the party right now.
I also believe that politics is a means to make some positive influence.
What attracted you to the BJP?
I am an army man and for me, the nation comes first.
I am also the son of an air force veteran. Throughout my life, I have only heard everyone talking about our country.
In today's political spectrum, it is the Bharatiya Janata Party that always says, nation first.
You mean the other political parties do not feel or talk that way?
They do talk but only when it is convenient for them.
Otherwise, some parties are based of party ideology, some on religion or some on other factors.
But here at the BJP, from the topmost leadership to the karyakarta on the ground, it is rashtra pradham or nation first.
And every citizen is included in the nation-first ideology, without exception. That is how it is in the army also.
You said when you say nation first, it includes everybody. But many BJP leaders often talk about us and them. Do you agree you are othering the minorities?
I do not agree; the party is othering the minorities.
If you look at the administration of Prime Minister Modi, you will see that there is no discrimination based on any caste or religion.
When the CAA (Citizen [Amendment] Act) was brought in, there were talks that Muslims would be driven out of the country. Can you say anyone has been expedited based on religion? Till now, not a single person has been expelled or asked to move out of our nation.
This narrative has been built by other political parties purely to gain political mileage.
Our party believes that the country belongs to all.
The BJP as a political party has never indulged in othering the minorities.
The ideology at the highest level is sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas.
Today, we have to get over the mentality of othering the minorities, the idea of Hindutva Rashtra, etc.
But all this started after the BJP came to power....
If you want to say that it happened after 2013, my only contention is, has there been any incident which substantiates that as a government, has the party discriminated against any religion in any decision or action after 2014?
I know your answer will be no.
I do agree that some unfortunate incidents happened in some parts of the country but you will also agree that in a large country like ours, everybody will have his or her opinion.
But as a State policy, there is no othering of minorities.
Based on the performance of the government, it clearly shows that there is no discrimination whatsoever against the minorities.
If you look at the nations that have honoured the prime minister, you will see that majority of them are in the Middle East. They are intelligent people with very high political knowledge, and they know what they are doing. They don't have to honour a prime minister if he or the party is othering the minorities especially the Muslims.
This narrative that is there is not true as facts on ground are different.
Every citizen is equal under the Constitution, and we follow the Constitution faithfully. That's what the last 11 years have shown.
In a state like Kerala where half the population constitute Christians and Muslims, what are the chances of the BJP making an impact in Kerala?
I do agree that demography plays an important role in India's politics today.
You see what happened in Goa, a Christian dominated state where the BJP is in power.
Once people realise that this party is not against any particular religion or caste, they will see that this is the party or the government that has performed well in various development issues.
When that is understood by the minorities of Kerala, a change will definitely happen.
Let me ask, what is the other alternative they have at this moment in Kerala other than the LDF and the UDF?
If you ask anybody in Kerala, everybody without exception, is dissatisfied with the LDF government.
They are totally dissatisfied with the performance of the LDF government whether it is price rise or unemployment or crime rate or the condition of the infrastructure or investment coming....
Kerala has the maximum number of students going abroad to study. And they are not coming back. Why? There are no job opportunities here.
The maximum number of terror related incidents happen in Kerala.
There is a narcotics outburst in Kerala. Young people are becoming drug addicts and killing their own parents.
This is the current state of Kerala.
And today people of Kerala understand that there has to be a change. They want a change.
Unless there is a political change, social changes will not happen.
Once Kerala was much ahead of other states.
Even today, Kerala is ahead of other states in many developmental parameters like education, healthcare, quality of life etc though Tamil Nadu has almost caught up...
I agree that Kerala is ahead of many other states when you look at the parameters.
I will give you an example. If Kerala once was say 7 out of 10 on the scale of 10 in health while the other states were 2 or 3 out of 10. But today, these states have reached 6 or 7 while Kerala is struggling to move from 7 to 7.5.
It means we have not improved from where we were decades ago while those states which were way behind us have almost caught up with us.
What I want to say is, Kerala is experiencing a kind of stagnation in development.
In fact, in some other parameters, Kerala has gone down too, like in the number of investments coming to Kerala, entrepreneurship, etc.
The rulers of Kerala must answer why this is happening.
We need to do some serious introspection.
What Kerala needs is a drastic change and people are already aware of it.
Do you think the BJP has a chance of improving its position in the 2026 election?
Absolutely. Not only improving our position but winning too.
After all, every political party fight the election with the intention to win.
Our aim also is to come to power in Kerala in 2026.
I agree there are a lot of challenges but there will be a paradigm shift in the way the Kerala electorate will look at the elections in 2026.
Why do you feel there will be a paradigm shift?
I live in Kerala, and I can feel the resentment among people because things are not happening the way it should.
The resentment against the present government is very strong today.
Added to that is the feeling that there is no other alternative available to them other than the BJP.
That's why I say that there will be a paradigm shift in the way elections will be fought and also in the outcome in 2026.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
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