"It’s not mere rhetoric… the danger from the BJP government is real"

It is the need of the hour, a historical necessity. It is required to confront the fascist forces which are out to rip apart the country’s democratic fabric once and for all. It is not mere rhetoric; the danger from the BJP government is real as it is pushing the country towards fascist rule, whichis the basic purpose and philosophy of the saffron forces. And this can be seen from their recent actions.

Do you think the nuclear tests were carried out in national interest?

Apparently, these were carried out to meet the threat from Pakistan. But the real purpose was to create a Hindu-Muslim divide so that religious sentiments of the majority community could be whipped up in favour of constructing a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. The idols and pillars for the temple are already being forged near the disputed site. That was a part of the BJP’s hidden agenda, which also includes a gradual subversion of all democratic institutions.

Leaders like Pramod Mahajan and Jaswant Singh being given a back-door entry into Parliament despite having lost the elections is a case in point. On what basis was Pramod Mahajan appointed as political advisor to the Prime Minister? This is only the beginning. Tomorrow you will see judges with rightist leanings being appointed, and bureaucrats havingsympathy with the saffron forces occupying top posts. They have already appointed a committee to change school and college syllabi to suit the Hindutva ideology. Another committee has been appointed so that the country’s history can be rewritten according to the saffron philosophy. They also want to change the Constitution so that the parliamentary system can be replaced by the presidential form of government to perpetuate the BJP rule. I am aware of the BJP’s motives because I have worked as an RSS Pracharak and had been a member of the BJP until I formed my own party.

Do you think the task you have taken up is easy?

By all means it is a gigantic task. I have already warned the leaders of the secular parties to wake up to the impending danger before it is too late. I have urged them to keep national interest above their own and their parties’ interests. After all, whose interests will these parties serve when the entire third force will be gobbled up by the saffron forces?

What is your planof action?

Such a task cannot be handled by an individual alone. That is the reason why I am seeking the help of all centrist and leftist parties. I will soon write to all non-BJP MPs, detailing the BJP game plan, and will personally appeal to them to unite against the saffron forces.

I will be inviting leaders like Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Laloo Prasad Yadav, Mayawati, Kanshi Ram, Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral separately for discussions. I will urge them to come on one platform. At a later stage, I will be holding similar discussions with the leaders like George Fernandes, Jayalalitha, Mamata Banerjee and Surjit Singh Barnala who have extended their parties’ support to the BJP.

What makes you think your experiment will succeed?

In politics, you visualise the success or failure of any cause you take up on the basis of past political experiences. And past experiences have shown that anti-establishment issues always catch the people’s imagination. For instance, in 1977, JP’scall for Total Revolution against the Congress was successful. Then, in 1989, V.P. Singh succeeded in dislodging the Congress. In 1996, the United Front came to power.

These experiments were short-lived because the centrist and leftist parties fell apart once they lost power.

Power should not be the goal, it should be a byproduct. Problems arose only because the various groups in the Third Force failed to decentralise their own party set-ups.

What about the egos and ambitions of the leaders? Many of these leaders are still around. How will you ensure that their ambitions won’t become the undoing of your non-BJP front as well?

We will form the non-BJP front with the consent and support of these leaders only. But in order to ensure that no conflict arises among the leaders of various constituents, we will set up a co-ordination committee which will decide the distribution of portfolios and all issues pertaining to running of the government.

But the leaders you are trying to bringtogether may not take your proposal seriously because your party has lost its base in Gujarat.

Electoral defeat or victory of a party does not really matter much when the country’s future is at stake. Leaders like Chandra Shekhar and Mulayam Singh have already asked me to go ahead.