Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for Human Resource Development and BJP in-charge for the Karnataka Assembly elections, the next big thing on the electoral calendar, says the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh mandate for the party will have a favourable impact for the party in Karnataka.
Is the lower margin of victory in Gujarat going to affect the BJP’s prospects in the Karnataka Assembly elections?
The Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh mandate for the BJP has impacted favourably in Karnataka. Our workers are much enthused, as we are in power in 19 States and now targeting the four States going to the polls in the early part of 2018. It is reflected in our ongoing “Parivartan Yatra” in the State, the response has been growing.
But the margin of victory in Gujarat was lower. Isn’t that a worry?
Every State election is different. In Gujarat, we were contesting for a sixth straight term and it was a different ball game altogether. Here [Karnataka] we have already been in government where we provided good governance for five years, but while going to the polls in 2013, we had been divided into three parts — the Yeddyurappa-led Karnataka Janata Paksha, the B. Sriramulu-led Badava Shramikara Raitara Congress and the BJP — that impacted us and therefore we lost. Now we are united and are able to take on the Congress. We are getting great support from the people who want the Modi model of governance and do not want the Congress that has converted Karnataka, including Bengaluru, into a garbage- and pothole-ridden place. Farmers too feel cheated and through the drought yatra we did earlier, have responded to us.
In Karnataka, it is said, the Congress is behaving like a regional party, something that should worry the BJP looking at past records of encounters with regional entities.
As far as the Kannada language and Kannada pride is concerned, both parties are saying the same thing — Jai Karnataka and Jai Bharat. The separate flag for the State was already there; it is not a new issue. There is also a Karnataka anthem which is very beautiful and is sung in every one of our programmes too. So how is that a problem for us.
In speeches during the Parivartan Yatra, Union Minister Ananth Hegde has been making provocative speeches and an FIR has been filed against Shobha Karandalaje for some provocative tweets. Is polarisation the aim?
Our gambit is development, solely. We have already informed all our workers and leaders to keep within certain lines and that our message is Nava Karnatakaige Parivartan Yatra, where prosperity for all is our main thrust and includes all religions and communities. When there are a 100 speeches, and somebody wants to pick on one speech, then that can’t be helped. As far as FIRs are concerned, the law will take its own course.
Much has been made of Rahul Gandhi’s temple visits in the Gujarat polls, will this so-called “soft Hindutva” blunt your appeal?
Rahul Gandhi’s temple visits were purely for political gains. The biggest event in his career as a politician has been his ascension to the post of president of the Congress. On that day, he didn’t visit any temple in Delhi. Therefore, what he did in Gujarat was an election gimmick. People understand ki chunaavi parikrama kaunsi hai aur asli bhakti hai (People understand who is doing political pilgrimage and whose faith is genuine).
The Congress in Karnataka is also trying to break the secular-appeasement binary by claiming that the fight is actually between Hindutva and “real Hinduism”.
Everyone should be a better human being. Our fight is on development issues and against the malgovernance of the Siddaramaiah government. Our only thrust is on good governance and the overall development of the State.
B.S. Yeddyurappa’s announcement in Hubli that the Goa government is willing to help on the Mahadayi issue has created problems for your government there. Isn’t this is a risky strategy?
What Goa has done is a wonderful thing, going beyond the tribunal, for providing drinking water. If Goa is ready to help, it is the biggest thing. The Congress was blocking all this, Sonia Gandhi is on record to say she would not give a drop to Karnataka. It is a humanitarian gesture. and I’m very sure everyone will understand
