‘BJP rewards only wives of MLAs, or wives of their sons. What about party workers?’: Ex-Mahila Morcha leader

Excerpts:

In your resignation letter to state BJP chief Mohan Lal Badoli, you claimed that workers of the Mahila Morcha have been overlooked during ticket distribution. Was this always the case?

In the 2014 and 2019 Assembly elections, the Mahila Morcha’s national treasurer Latika Sharma was fielded from Kalka but no one else. Earlier too, Mahila Morcha workers were not nominated by the BJP in Assembly elections. Sharma too had slammed the party after being denied a ticket for the Assembly polls this time. So did (former Haryana MLA and minister) Kavita Jain.

Your letter also said injustice has been meted out to women workers…

There has been a lot of injustice. I began my public life with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and come from a family with roots in the Sangh Parivar. I have also held positions like the zilla general secretary of the Mahila Morcha in Haryana and state vice-president of the Bharatiya janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).

In 2014, when I had sought a ticket, I was told to wait for government formation. I agreed and committedly worked for the party. At that time, I did not think of anything else but took this decision (to quit) as my self-respect was repeatedly hurt.

No one listens to party workers in the BJP. Only big speeches are given by their leaders claiming they granted 50% reservation for women in panchayats but did those women who have earned their place get any space?

The BJP rewards only wives of MLAs or the wives of MLAs’ sons. What about party workers who campaign door-to-door?

Were you expecting a ticket for the upcoming Haryana Assembly polls?

I was expecting a ticket from Hansi as my name was discussed with the panel. But instead an unpopular leader, Vinod Bhayana was preferred despite many complaints against him. He has destroyed Hansi and just built colonies here and there. You can ask anyone. Hansi is a historical place as it houses the fort of Prithviraj Chauhan.

*You said that the BJP is no longer the party it was during the times of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani, Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Sushma Swaraj. Could you elaborate?

At one point of time, the BJP was a party based on “sangathan (organisation)” but today it has become a party of “poonjipatis (capitalists)”. Be it Haryana, Maharashtra or Rajasthan, the party is run by 10-15 people. I have seen the party from the booth-level and my conclusion is based on that.

You have alleged that the poor and farmers have suffered under the BJP government. What do you mean and why did you not raise the issue earlier?

They have suffered losses. I had internally conveyed the issue to top leaders that we were doing the wrong thing. My father-in-law is a farmer and I am the daughter of an army man, who fought three wars. My uncles and my maternal grandfather too were in the army. What is this Agniveer scheme? Who would send their child to the army just for four years? Farmers were protesting and so were women wrestlers.

There may be some internal issues but what was done was wrong. After all, the women wrestlers are our daughters.

What is your assessment of the upcoming Haryana Assembly election?

The Congress will win Haryana as it is in the hearts of the people.