145;I try my best but controversies follow me146;

8226; By that count you rate yourself as successful, moderately successful?

Well, I don8217;t know moderate or very successful, but definitely I can say that yes there are8230;

8226; You8217;ve had an interesting career graph in politics. You started on a very high note as defence minister for 13 days8230; Then the government went 8230; Then IT, then telecom, telecom and IT, then oblivion, then general secretary. What does it do for your career?

I8217;ll not say at any point of time this oblivion was there. Yes, I was the defence minister in the 13-day government but one must understand that was not a real government with a majority8230;

8226; You were defence minister at 48 8230;

Yes, but I didn8217;t take that ministry as very serious because we did not have a majority. But when this ministry came, I was made parliamentary affairs minister for four years. Though this is a ministry that nobody will like to do 8212; it is a thankless job. But that has helped me tremendously. Then I got IT.

8226; I think you built more linkages and networks as parliamentary affairs minister than as IT minister.

After I was moved from the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry to the general secretary8217;s job, at least half a dozen prominent leaders asked the Prime Minister, Why did you do this? You have changed other ministers, but don8217;t change him from the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry.

8226; You mean leaders from other parties also8230;

Somnathda told the Prime Minister at least thrice that this was the best parliamentary affairs minister. But if you look at IT, it was a ministry given to me with a budget of Rs 300 crore. And I made IT as a ministry such an internationally known one. Though I never understood much about IT.

8226; But you understand something about networking.

Yes laughs. Both things come together. Then I was given communications. Finally when it came to general secretary, I was given this responsibility.

8226; But you know there is seniority in politics as well. Now Venkaiah Naidu, all said and done, is junior to you. Today December 2003 you work under him as party president. Did you see this as supersession in some way?

No, no. Hierarchy is there, but after all politics is not a government job. There are many people who were younger to Advaniji and Atalji and still became president. Same is the case for Joshiji. So why Venkaiah? Venkaiah opted out of the cabinet. At that point of time8230;I would have become8230; that8217;s a different thing8230; Now only I decided at a later stage, the party asked me to move to the organisation. Now I can8217;t say that I am senior than Venkaiah so make him general secretary and make me the president. No, that8217;s not the proper way8230; It8217;s not like the bureaucracy.

8226; How do you look at yourself today? You started with the RSS but a lot of your politics has been very different from the RSS, I would even say the Narendra Modi stream. So how do you see your evolution? Have you become a different kind of politician? Are you more middle of the road or do you think middle of road politics is the future now?

I am always middle of the road 8230; I look at Atalji and Advaniji and I want to be somewhere a combination of both of them, which is not always easy to be. If you look at Atalji, you8217;ll find his oratory, his liberal image, which always helps. If you look at Advaniji, he8217;s a taskmaster, a man of organisation, a man of strategy.

8226; And what do you learn from Arun Jaitley, who8217;s your peer and in some ways the two of you compete in the same space 8230;

No, I don8217;t think I really compete with Arun Jaitley or any of my colleagues 8230;

8226; But there is competition.

I can only say that if I have to learn from him, I think his articulation, his appearance, the kind of English he speaks, these are three, four things that I8217;d like to learn from him.

8226; Do you miss being in the government?

No, no. Frankly, I am enjoying this job. I have been in at least half a dozen ministries. I don8217;t think I miss government at this juncture8230; Maybe after the 2004 Lok Sabha election what happens I don8217;t know8230;

8226; What is this at a party job that8217;s more interesting?

Because this is election time, frankly. This is not a peace time, this is war time. And during war time, if you really try like this8230; What we won, we call it Operation 2003.

8226; After Godhra and the riots, if you were in charge of Gujarat, would you have run the campaign differently?

Might be, it differs from person to person8230; So I can8217;t say that somebody did right or wrong8230; It might have been different but at the same time even in Gujarat, post-Godhra also, we definitely talked about development issues.

8226; But in Rajasthan this time, Ashok Gehlot had moved against Pravin Togadia, and there must have been some pressure to bring him in a big way, to bring Modi in a big way8230;

No, Modi campaigned in all states. His meetings were big, his speeches were good 8230;

8226; But you kept Moditva out of the campaign 8230;

That8217;s because it was not needed 8230; See the thing is that campaigning is to win your election, not to make your point or spread your ideology. It8217;s an election, it8217;s an 11-day battle, so put your best foot forward 8230; Next time one doesn8217;t know.

8226; Once you win the election, then you can talk ideology.

You can talk ideology, administration, everything. See ideology is to be in the party 8230; Ideologies don8217;t make you win, lose elections. Suppose you lose the election, does that mean your ideology is wrong. Suppose you win the election, does that mean Rajasthan has accepted everything the BJP stands for? No. Elections are fought on a few issues.

8226; And where do you see Pramod Mahajan after that election?

I really don8217;t know, because first I want Mission 2004 to be successful.

8226; But what will your wish be? You8217;ll be in your mid-50s by the time the elections are over8230; That8217;s still very young.

That8217;s true, but I don8217;t have any wish, really.

8226; And will something change with you so at least you won8217;t have controversies at your heels?

I8217;ll try my level best.

8226; To create controversies or 8230;

I8217;ll try my level best not to go into controversies. But you see, I am not that fortunate, so controversies follow8230;