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Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004

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National - Elections 2004

Q & A : Natwar Singh

'The BJP has run out of ideas'

The senior Congress leader, Natwar Singh, is believed to have played a major role in the selection of party candidates from his home State of Rajasthan, something he denies. Mr. Singh, who prefers to be low-key about his role in the State's politics spoke to Sunny Sebastian on the party's prospects in the current elections. Excerpts:

How do you assess the Congress' prospects now?

Various exit polls have brought no comfort to the National Democratic Alliance. There is no feel-good mood in the BJP which talked of getting 330 seats for the NDA once. They have come down by 100 seats now. The BJP's campaign style too has changed mid-way. The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has started talking of a re-alignment after the results.

How is the Congress doing after the first round? What is the mood in the party?

The mood is upbeat. We will fare even better in the second round of polling. Each day the Congress' position is improving. You can see a change even in the body language of the NDA leaders when they appear on television. They are so desperate that they are now trying to placate the minorities whom they had discarded all these years.

How has the Congress been faring on the campaign front?

We are doing well. The BJP could not offer a constructive programme of governance to the people. They faltered in economic matters, security aspects and in matters pertaining to the foreign policy. The BJP has run out of ideas. That is why it has been harping on things such as Bofors and the foreign origin of the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi.

About foreign policy influencing the elections... Generally such issues are not discussed in elections in most areas...

These things too matter when it comes to the public assessing the Government's overall performance. Under the NDA Government the country tilted towards the U.S. The NDA Government could not condemn the U.S. attack on Iraq. And it was known that the U.S. could not find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; even then India did not condemn the U.S. invasion of Iraq. They (the U.S.) destroyed a non-aligned nation but our rulers kept quiet.

How well has the general voter responded to the Congress' campaigns and strategies?

The response has been extremely good. A good indication is the poor response received by the "Bharat Uday Yatra" of the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani.

How do you assess the Vajpayee factor in the current elections?

I don't know ... He shows his age. He is tired now. This was the man who used to mesmerise the crowds...

But the Congress does not seem to have an answer to him...

They don't have an answer to Rahul Gandhi. The entry of Rahul and Priyanka into the Congress campaign has made all the difference. Consider Priyanka's rating at 58 per cent (NDTV). The country's youth is enthralled by Rahul. He has made a deep impression as a young man serious about politics. He speaks with great feeling and emotion which is combined with a mature approach to politics. Rahul will make a great MP. Also, we have a large number of promising young candidates besides Rahul Gandhi such as Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora, R.P.N. Padorna, etc., — at least one prominent young leader in each State.

How are the allies and the non-NDA parties treating the Congress this time? Was there any major hiccup during the campaign?

The lines of communication have not been broken with Mulayam Singh. The alliance is doing fine, be it with the DMK in Tamil Nadu or the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir or smaller parties in Kerala or in Uttar Pradesh.

Do you think the alliances are going to help the Congress this time?

We will do very well with the allies in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The Congress is slated to do better in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP is going to lose badly in U.P., Bihar and Jharkhand, besides other areas. My feeling is that there will be surprises in U.P. The situation there is much more favourable for the Congress than the opinion polls had predicted earlier. In Gujarat there has been a big margin in the BJP victories in the past. Yet we will do much better than what it is generally perceived, especially after the tour of the party president, Sonia Gandhi. Her campaign had a big positive impact.

It is perceived that you had a major role in the ticket distribution in Rajasthan?

I did not have. I am a very disciplined person. I was hardly involved in the processes and in the decision-making. As a CWC member I responded whenever I was needed to. I was not a key player.

You wanted your son, Jagat Singh, to fight from Bharatpur. Were you against the entry of Vishvendra Singh, who has been re-nominated by the BJP for Bharatpur, into the Congress?

No. Jagat Singh was not an aspirant. I did not ask for the ticket for my son or any of my relatives. As for Vishvendra Singh I did not oppose him personally. It was a principled stand. Why did Vishvendra Singh want to leave the BJP? The Congress is not a waste bin to take in all sorts of people.

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