Our land policy is better than that of the govt of India,says Raman Singh

The promises we made five years ago have been met — be it rice procurement or bonus for farmers. We will go to the people and say that we met all our promises and will now fulfill the promises of the new manifesto.

Congress says many of your promises remain unfulfilled. In fact,you promised a bonus of Rs 270 per quintal of rice in 2008,but provided it just a few months ago. Is it appropriate to meet poll promises on the eve of another election?

We had asked the Congress-led Central government to provide Rs 2,000 samarthan mulya,but when Delhi did not listen,we provided Rs 270 from the state budget.

What will be your promises this year?

We will soon issue a manifesto regarding development projects in various sectors.

Your candidates still talk of free rice scheme. It already won you a poll in 2008,can it get another?

We have already moved from food security to nutrition security. Now we provide salt and grams. We cover 42 lakh households from the 32 lakh that we did earlier. Still,the rice scheme will greatly benefit us during polls. People trust that we can implement this scheme with total transparency. They are satisfied with us.

There is agrarian unrest across Chhattisgarh. Farmers’ land is being snatched by middlemen and illegally transferred to industries,but the government has not prevented this. Instead,the government’s involvement has been found in several cases.

Let India decide that there will be no industry anywhere for the next 20 years. Let the government of India formulate a policy. If there is no industry,land will remain with people. We need a policy at the national level for this.

So you favour a complete ban on industry in your state?

It’s not only about my state. Let there be no industry in the entire country and then no one will lose land. Let the country decide there will be no steel plant,no power plant,no cement plant. Badhiya ho jayega (It will be great then).

It’s not about losing land,but the fraudulent ways in which land is being snatched from farmers in Chhattisgarh.

In India,Chhattisgarh provides maximum compensation for farmers. The land dealings in Chhattisgarh are done with maximum honesty across India.

Your ministers and their relatives have been named in fraudulent land deals. Their men have been arrested. The latest census figures show that the number of landless labourers has increased and the number of farmers has decreased.

These are isolated incidents. Chhattisgarh provides maximum employment and compensation. Our policy is better than that of the government of India. You name any plant,there is no problem at all across Chhattisgarh.

A JK Lakshmi cement plant was set on fire by protesting farmers in Chhattisgarh and a government officer is facing an inquiry for illegally transferring land to the company. Your home minister’s son was found involved in fraudulent land transfer for a Videocon plant. In Bilaspur,your health minister’s land agent was arrested for fraudulently buying farmland for the minister’s power plant. In Bastar,too,your ministers are facing allegations.

There is no such involvement. All 3,000 families there got full compensation. If someone bought 5 acre land there in someone’s name,it is not involvement.

What is your strategy for Naxals?

We will carry forward our ten-year-old strategy for the next five years. This strategy is a part of the country’s policy and Chhattisgarh’s too.

Before the 2008 polls,you claimed Naxals will be eliminated in the next five years. It has not happened. Instead,they seem more powerful and the state has retreated.

In the past three years,there is a decline of 40 per cent in police and civilian casualties. Encounters have increased. The number of blasts and resultant deaths of paramilitary forces has gone down. It can’t be tackled in a day,it will take time.

If the situation has come under control,why do you have to deploy 564 additional companies of forces for elections in Bastar?

These are elections. I need to ensure protection of every person. 400 personnel are required at every polling booth. You need forces for road opening and transporting people. Bastar is bigger than Kerala. More force is always needed in such situations. Last time,booths were looted. We need to prevent this.

There is a criticism from both within and outside the BJP that this government did not let tribal leadership emerge. Your MPs have gone on record that the state should have a tribal chief minister.

The issue is not whether the chief minister is tribal,OBC or from the general category,but what the MLAs decide. As far as tribal leadership is concerned,the BJP state president is tribal. Our six ministers are tribal. It is collective participation.

In the past fortnight,we have seen unprecedented dissent against ministers and sitting MLAs. People visited party headquarters and opposed their tickets. Still,they were given tickets.

A minor dissent among party workers during elections is natural and,in a way,necessary. But we then bring all groups together and calm them down.

Until recently,you and your party were banking on Ajit Jogi that he would work against the Congress and benefit you. Now he is back in the Congress,and we no longer see warring factions in that party. Has it changed the electoral equations? How do you view the situation now?

It is a positive sign. Now it will be easy for people to compare Jogi’s rule from 2000-03 with ours in the last ten years from 2003-13. Now it’s very obvious to people. People will remember those three years and compare our term.