Interview: Maybe in the last phase, Modi will say that he is a Muslim, says Ghulam Nabi Azad

Here in Seemanchal, several parties are vying for the Muslim vote, including the AIMIM. How real is the threat of a division of the vote?

I entirely agree — for the first time, these parties are contesting in this area. Obviously there is somebody behind them to help the BJP. So any person who is trying to divide the secular vote in the name of religion is definitely helping the BJP.

How real is that threat of a division in the Muslim vote affecting your alliance?

The polarisation is BJP versus maha gathbandhan. They are trying to divide the secular votes — secular voters do not consist of Muslims only. An attempt is being made by some parties outside their states… I think the people of Bihar have come to the conclusion that any division in secular votes will help the BJP. All these candidates put up by outsiders and from within the state, they will not get votes.

How will the outcome in Bihar affect the national political scene?

The central government has failed on all fronts, particularly on the economic front. Now they are testing the waters. But you cannot test your popularity by conducting the elections in an abnormal way. When I say abnormal way, I mean the use of power. Half the Union cabinet is here, the prime minister is here having said goodbye to his office… it is as if the cabinet meeting can be held in Patna. Eighteen helicopters are being used besides the prime minister’s helicopters and aircraft, seven private aircraft are being used to ferry these ministers. It is like you are waging a war… this is not a normal election.

But how will the outcome affect the national narrative?

That is what I said. In spite of all this, if they lose, I can say they have gone below freezing point. Despite all this use of money power, shameless exhibition of power, if they lose, they should go into hiding.

The Congress campaign is about Modi and Nitish. There is no mention of the Congress.

You could mention the Congress much more if you were going to have a Congress headed-government. Here you have a government headed by Nitish. It is a contest between Modi and Nitish.

The BJP says it is leaders of the grand alliance who are talking about caste and Modi wanted the election to be contested on development.

I think Modi was wrongly briefed before coming here. I think he was briefed about the condition of Bihar during Vajpayee’s time. He was not briefed about the transformation Bihar has undergone during the UPA government. Lalu Prasad was a minister in UPA-1; he was part of Bihar’s growth story. Later Nitish became the chief minister and implemented those schemes. Poor Modi did not know how each village is now connected with roads, how almost every village now has electricity, he did not know that every village now has a school, he didn’t know that every village has an ASHA worker, he did not know 8,000 hospitals have been constructed… Realising that, they shifted the debate to the cow. When that did not click, he moved to backwards. I agree with Nitish Kumar that within a week, he might try to say he is an SC. Maybe by the time the elections happen in the fifth phase, he will say he is a Muslim. He changes according to the pattern of the

elections.

In the winter session of Parliament, can we expect forward movement on key legislation like the GST?

We have given them our amendments (on GST). But this government is very stubborn and arrogant. They do not want to accept the amendments because they don’t believe in democracy and parliamentary democracy… They want that judges should listen to them, the Supreme Court and high courts should listen to them, the Opposition should listen to them. Everything will depend on how far BJP and the government accommodates the Opposition’s concerns.

Mamata Banerjee has appealed for votes to Nitish Kumar. Is a larger secular unity taking shape?  

All right-thinking people, chief ministers and leaders would like Nitish to win. Because the way the BJP has polarised the country, it has never happened since Independence — maybe during Partition such polarisation was there, but even that did not last long — I think that in the coming days, development is going to take the back seat as long as the BJP is in power and for each right-thinking person the greatest challenge will be to keep the country united. And in this backdrop, all those secular parties and right-thinking parties are supporting other secular parties.