The Hindu : Front Page : ‘EC wanted to show off its authority’

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Sunday, Mar 29, 2009
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Front Page

‘EC wanted to show off its authority’

I am more than 100 per cent sure more parties will
join the NDA post-poll

In 1996, Rajnath Singh was not even a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s State election committee in Uttar Pradesh. Ten years later he was anointed the party president. His rise has been meteoric — Uttar Pradesh State BJP president, Union Minister, U.P. Chief Minister and then the party’s national president. The significant electoral victory during his tenure was in Karnataka, where he delivered the first BJP government south of the Vindhyas. But will he deliver the prime ministership to L.K. Advani? He speaks to NEENA VYAS on various issues ahead of the 2009 polls.

Whenever there are elections, Hindutva, and specifically the Ram temple, crops up. In the recent Nagpur conclave, both you and Mr. Advani raised the temple issue. It seems the idea is, as always, to polarise voters a long communal lines.

We are not anti-Muslim or anti-Christian. Let me point out that a Congress Prime Minister [Narasimha Rao] talked about rebuilding the Babri Masjid. Let the Congress clarify when they will rebuild the Masjid before you ask me to clarify the BJP’s stand on the Ram temple.

Let the Ayodhya issue be settled through the courts. But for 60 years, it has been caught up in legal wrangles. Let it be settled by a fast-track court.

The impression has gained ground that this time the BJP deliberately revealed its anti-Muslim mindset through Varun Gandhi. And you defended him strongly.

Varun has said he did not say those things. Let me tell you, if he had admitted to speaking that hate language, then action would have been taken by the party. Our ideology, integral humanism, does not allow anyone to spread hate against any caste, creed or religion.

But a constitutional body such as the Election Commission has found Varun Gandhi guilty of using offensive language against Muslims.

I want the EC to have full credibility. But it should not have gone beyond its jurisdiction. Without jurisdiction, the EC made the suggestion [not to give ticket to Varun Gandhi] ‘apni dhamak banane ke liye’ (to make an impact, to show its authority).

To this day the EC has not withdrawn the case falsely implicating me in the matter of a compact disc [showing a cow being slaughtered] released in Lucknow [ahead of the last U.P. Assembly election by the BJP and then hastily withdrawn]. I was not present but another man with the same name was. And I was sent notice by the EC.

Recently, your authority in the party was questioned by senior general secretary Arun Jaitley. What kind of message has that sent to your cadre?

Nothing like that happened. It was all media hype. Everyone is cooperating. All election related work is progressing fine. You will see.

Is the return of Uma Bharti to the BJP imminent now that she says her dream is to see L.K. Advani as Prime Minister?

She has said she is not interested in rejoining the BJP. What can I say?

Besides pre-poll allies, will the BJP be able to get parties on board post-poll if it comes within striking distance of government formation?

There are parties, which will never tie up with the Congress. I am in touch with their leaders but cannot disclose their names. They are not with us now because of the compulsions of their State politics. I am more than 100 per cent sure more parties will join the NDA post-poll.

You have declared you will contest the Ghaziabad seat from Uttar Pradesh? You have never won a Lok Sabha election before. Why have you chosen this seat where the BJP came third in 2004?

I have been in the Rajya Sabha for two terms. When I became party president I decided to contest the Lok Sabha election. I am in politics at the Centre. Ghaziabad’s proximity to Delhi was one factor. The second factor was that I did not want to contest a seat already won by the BJP in 2004. Thirdly, I did not want a constituency dominated by my own caste. Ghaziabad is not. When I was Chief Minister of U.P., I chose to contest for the Vidhan Sabha from a constituency dominated by Brahmins rather than Thakurs. My capital is that people know me as a person with integrity.

Vajpayee and Advani have dominated the BJP from the time the Bharatiya Jan Sangh was born in the Fifties. When your tenure ends in January 2010, will a younger leadership take over?

In any political party, one or two leaders dominate. At least we have had different party presidents. And in the BJP it is not a one-man or a one-family affair. In the BJP, there is a natural process of leadership building. You will see when the time comes for change.

The consultation process for a new party president could begin as early as May-June.

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