It has been six months since you took over a job you said you never dreamed of landing. How has it been so far?
The initial shock and awe is in the past now. With the help of all my colleagues I can say that I am quite comfortable and feel we are well on the right track. Our planning is being done in detail. There are some positives in the past six months that I’m particularly happy about. The first was the successful conclusion of the Indore national council of the party, where I was able to deliver my message to workers, leaders and followers of the party. The second was the huge morale boost that the Delhi rally turned out to be for the party. It was huge, energised the party organisation and the issue of price rise managed to put the government on the backfoot. This is an issue above caste and religion lines and has the potential to energise a large swathe of people.
Immediately after the Indore national council, you announced a new team that was greeted with a lot of criticism. How did you deal with that?
This is a big party so such things happen. There were some lapses in my declaration, but I suggested that if there are any shortcomings, I will also try to make up for it. If there has been a mistake, I am ready to correct it. I also always believe that jo kaam karat hai usise galti hoti hai (the one who does the work sometimes commits mistakes as well). I don’t have a biased approach, I believe in team spirit and collective leadership. I make it a point not to stress on protocol while meeting people. At the same time, it has to be understood by people that I cannot accommodate everyone; not all can sit on one chair. And just because a post has not been given does not mean that you are being thwarted. Politics is an instrument of socio-economic reform and you don’t need a chair to do that.
The BJP and the Congress follow more or less the same economic agenda when in government. In which sectors do you think the BJP will support the Congress on economic policy?
I feel this government has to fix its economic priorities. They keep talking about the aam aadmi and yet their policies don’t reflect that. In rural India, water and employment are the biggest problems. Irrigation is a state subject, but the Centre is never forthcoming when it comes to this crucial sector. Agriculture is suffering because the government has no clear policy intervention when it comes to water management, capital loans for seeds and fertillisers, availability of institutional credit for farmers. Very importantly, heavy investment is required in agro processing, godowns, cold storage and processing.
The government keeps complaining about lack of resources, but it should ‘peopleise’ projects. If cars and scooters can be bought on deferred payments, then why not bridges, roads and flyovers.
The party had to face a very embarrassing situation in Jharkhand; how do you explain that?
Well, from the beginning we were very clear that we were not in a hurry to decide anything. We were also clear that we did not want the Congress to take advantage of the situation, which was why things moved slowly and we explored all options. Now, of course, things are the way they are.
Some people in your party feel that all this talk of development ultimately yields very little in terms of electoral traction and one needs an emotional issue to swing votes.
If that is the case then we have to change the mindset of the people. But I don’t agree with the basic premise that only emotional issues sell with voters. Terrorism is not an emotional issue nor a religious one, but people will be moved to get into the political process to have their voice heard on this matter. Even the Ram Mandir, which you all speak of as this big emotional issue, was actually an aspiration which dealt with the soul of the country and not an emotional construct. It dealt with the basic issue of who we were. Connecting with people is what gets you support and development is the surest way of getting that.
What are the party’s plans for the 2014 elections. Who will be the party’s prime ministerial candidate?
Right now it is too early for any of that. We are concentrating on Assembly polls, especially the upcoming one in Bihar where we have a very strong chance of forming the government again. Now coming back to developmental politics, Bihar is the biggest example. Our electoral plank there is the 11.06% growth rate, roads, highways and good law and order. This is actually the model for politics for performance and development. Problems are everywhere and there are always some people who convert opportunities into problems and others who convert problems into opportunity.