The BJP on Thursday launched a Jan Aakrosh Yatra in Rajasthan with the aim of reaching out to the public in all 200 Assembly constituencies of the state. BJP Rajya Sabha MP and national general secretary Arun Singh, who is also the party leader in charge for Rajasthan, talks to The Indian Express about the Yatra, reports of factionalism in the state BJP, and the party prospects in the 2023 Assembly elections. What does the Jan Aakrosh Yatra seek to achieve and why do you think it will be successful? We will do a massive public outreach through the Jan Aakrosh Yatra, reaching two crore people in 200 Assembly constituencies directly. Indirectly, we will connect with all eight crore people in the state. Different incidents are taking place in districts. Seers are being killed, farmers committing suicide, and there are atrocities on women. The law-and-order system has completely broken down in districts and there is a jungle raaj. There is immense corruption. People have aakrosh (anger) in their minds, and the BJP will strengthen their voice by reaching out to the micro level and the grassroots. Public participation is very important. Our election preparations will be complete with the Jan Aakrosh Yatra. In the past, be it the Parivartan Yatra in 2003, the Suraaj Sankalp Yatra in 2013, or the Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra in 2018, every yatra had former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje as a face. The Jan Aakrosh Yatra has no individual face … The Yatra you are talking about takes place two to three months before the elections, when the party projects a leader. That comes later according to what the party decides. The present yatra is happening on the fourth anniversary of the Congress government. In this last year (before the polls), they should say what happened to the promises they made. In recent times, the BJP has accused the Congress of appeasement politics. But the Congress has alleged that the BJP is trying to polarise the electorate before the Assembly elections. Where is polarisation? We are raising the problems of farmers, the youth, women, and traders. This is not polarisation. Yes, if you do appeasement politics, we will counter that too. Kanhaiyalal was murdered, there were riots in Karauli and Jodhpur. But our focus is the fact that development has been jeopardised in Rajasthan. That is why we are going amidst the public. Vasundhara Raje has been on parallel Dev Darshan yatras where her supporters are seen gathering in a show of strength. Does this suggest there are divisions within the party? There is no division in the BJP. She (Raje) is a ‘Jan Neta (public leader)’ and if she has gone for dev darshan (visit to temples), the public will assemble. When we go somewhere, the same thing happens and workers assemble. But our leaders have not attacked each other. You won’t see anyone in our party calling fellow leaders ‘gaddar (traitor)’. Now, even the Congress ministers themselves are saying that if the situation remains the same, after the next elections all the Congress MLAs will fit in one Fortuner (SUV). There is a war going on in the Congress but we are united. CM Ashok Gehlot has repeatedly asserted that his government will be back in power after the elections, breaking the long trend of the incumbent government being voted out every five years. Your take? Gehlot ji is saying this on what ground? Surveys say that 70 per cent of people are not happy with the government and 60 per cent of people have been victims of crimes. People are saying that the governance is dismal and there is nobody to listen to them. Gehlot has attacked the BJP saying that the party in Rajasthan has too many aspiring CM candidates who are competing against each other … The BJP is a huge party and a party of workers. There is no quarrel over the CM face and it is decided by the parliamentary board. It is the parliamentary board’s prerogative whether to declare a CM face or not. You can see any of the states, there has never been any fight over CM post. You say there is no division. But in the past, leaders close to Raje have written letters to the state leadership, alleging bias in Assembly proceedings. There is so much Jan Aakrosh against the Congress government that every leader wants to raise one issue or other. There is a pre-decided time limit in the Assembly. The leader of the Opposition allocates time accordingly. But there are so many issues against the government that every BJP MLA feels all these issues should be raised. At times there is a paucity of time. Actually, it is a good thing. There are increasing reports of a tussle between Raje and state president Satish Poonia. It is not true. Everyone sits together in core committee meetings and collectively discusses things. The Sardarsahar by-election is around the corner. In the past four years, the BJP could win only one of seven bypolls, a fact that the Congress uses to attack the party … If the Congress wants to be happy about by-elections, then let it be. But they should make the public happy. The local body elections show that the BJP has been leading in elections of the Zila Parishad. We are confident of winning the Sardarsahar bypoll too. Your recent statement got a lot of attention when you praised Satish Poonia while visiting his Assembly constituency Amer. I said the person you elected as an MLA is a very big state leader. Pradesh adhyaksh hamesha bada hota hi hota hai. Pradesh adhyaksh ka pad jo hota hai wo sabse bada hi hota hai. Toh isiliye, jinko vidhyak chuna hai, wo Pradesh adhyaksh hain. Toh sabse bade toh sangathan ke ho hi gaye Pradesh adhyaksh. (The post of the state president is always big. The post is the highest. I told them that is why the person you have voted as an MLA is the state president. So, the highest in the organisation is the state president). What are the main election issues for the BJP? Rahul Gandhi is coming to Rajasthan. Before coming to the state, he should tell the public what happened to his promise of farm loan waiver and unemployment allowance, why did the Congress increase electricity tariffs, why are diesel-petrol rates highest in Rajasthan, why did they stop the Gaurav Path Yojana, why didn’t the government procure bajra? He should answer this. Our main issues are jungle raaj, corruption, and misrule. After the BJP comes to power, it will bring in sushashan (good governance). What do you consider as your personal achievement as the party's Rajasthan in-charge? We are effectively raising the issues against the government. The Congress is divided. We have strengthened our organisation at the booth level. Panna pramukhs (workers in charge of getting voters to the booth) have been appointed, and photo-yukt booth samitis have also been set up. The BJP wins elections based on its organisational strength. There can’t be any comparison between our organisation and that of the Congress. Our organisation is very strong. How many seats the BJP is targeting to win in the 2023 Assembly elections? This time, the win will be the biggest ever win for the BJP in Rajasthan. We will get more than three-fourths of the majority.
