Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath on October 3 declared that the Congress would go it alone in the upcoming Assembly election in the State, despite the fact that “both our (Congress and BSP) intentions were to prevent a fragmentation of votes against the BJP.”
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Nath said that while talks had been on for some time, BSP chief Mayawati’s announcement had made things clear with regard to Madhya Pradesh. “It was the intention with both of us that we don’t want the BJP to win because of a splintering of votes and talks had been on. Now that Ms. Mayawati has made this announcement, we shall of course go it alone. We have full confidence that the people of Madhya Pradesh will read the situation correctly and vote for the Congress,” he said.
Excerpts from the interview:
What do you think is your strongest point going up against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh?
I have never seen a situation where every section of society is against a particular government. I’m seeing this for the first time in Madhya Pradesh. People from all sections of society are distressed — from farmers, to labourers, youth and women — today Madhya Pradesh is witnessing suicides by farmers, crimes against women, unemployment. People of the State are recognising this and they may be simple and many are poor but they are intelligent, which will ensure that this government is voted out.
The BJP seems to be banking on welfare policies like “Sambhal Yojana” to carry it through. What is your counter to it?
People are smart enough, they know these are election handouts. If Mr. Chouhan wanted to implement this “Sambhal Yojana”, why didn’t he give it in the last five years, why in the last five months? Do you think people don’t understand this? First you have the highest rate of electricity in the country in Madhya Pradesh, you make them pay it for four-and-a-half years and for the last four months, you give them a concessional rate. Do you think people are fools to be taken in?
You have made several announcements, like setting up of gaushalas in every district, and are being accused of “soft Hindutva”. Is that by strategy?
There is nothing known as “soft Hindutva” or “hard Hindutva”. The BJP does not have a sole distributorship of religion. We are all religious, but we don’t take our religiosity to a political platform. That’s the difference.
Then how would you explain Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s temple visits during the Gujarat and Karnataka polls?
Well, in the same vein, how would you explain that I built the biggest Hanuman temple in Madhya Pradesh, in Chhindwara (his Lok Sabha constituency)? It wasn’t soft Hindutva, I didn’t publicise it, I did it out of a sense of faith. We are all deeply religious but the fact of the matter is this: if a Congressman goes to a temple it is termed “soft Hindutva”, whereas it is the BJP which makes these visits for optics. In fact, just recently, one of the sants who had become a minister (Computer Baba) has criticised Mr. Chouhan for this very thing.
There was much talk of an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party for the polls in M.P., but party chief Mayawati has announced that she will go it alone. What next?
It was the intention with both of us that we don’t want the BJP to win because of a splintering of votes and talks had been on. Now that Ms. Mayawati has made this announcement, we shall of course go it alone. We have full confidence that the people of Madhya Pradesh will read the situation correctly and vote for the Congress.
Madhya Pradesh is seeing a phenomenon of upper caste resentment due to the SC/ST Act and reservation in promotions issue. What is your stand on the issues raised by upper caste organisations such as the Samanya Pichda Alpsankhyak Kalyan Samaj (SAPAKS)?
We stand for social justice. We are clear that we oppose any kind of atrocities against communities. At the same time, there should be justice. We have not had any discussions with SAPAKS; broadly we stand for justice for all and atrocities against none.
If the Congress wins the polls two months down the line, will you be the Chief Minister?
That will be decided by Rahul Gandhi, and my hunger is to bring the Congress back to power in Madhya Pradesh. I didn’t take on this challenge to merely become the Chief Minister.
You use the word “merely”, but people say that there are too many senior leaders jockeying for position and may hurt the party’s chances in the State.
There is harmony between all of us and coordination. My relationship with everyone is very good.
There was, however, a recent case of a party leader from Delhi being beaten up by supporters of some other leaders…
That was a local issue, and had nothing to do with factionalism. Nobody was beaten up, there was some loud talk, between the general secretary and the delegations that were meeting him. It wasn’t one delegation against another, just loud talk during the course of these meetings. That’s all.
How do you plan to counter Prime Minister Narendra Modi who does more than his bit to campaign for the BJP and has the tendency to turn any campaign to a more national contest?
Elections have become very localised. The largest number of representations I have received from people pertain to giving party ticket to a local person, whoever it is. Local issues are surpassing any other which was not the case 10 years ago.