You were back in the poll fray only in March. In the last five years, have you had the chance to interact with the cadre and the people in your constituency? After I lost the elections, for at least three years, I was politically active with the cadre and the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC). Work would happen through MRCC. like making your presence felt and ensuring Congress’ presence on the ground. I was also focussing on my work and worked on Nargis Dutt foundation. But I never lost touch with my cadre as this office was always functioning and people would come and meet me whenever there was a need. There was a perception that since you were removed as AICC secretary last year, you decided to quit. I was a secretary for seven years. When I lost the elections, I still remained a secretary and was not able to contribute anything. I am based in Mumbai and have to travel all the time as part of the profile. I was not able to do so, which I conveyed to the party. I was told that during the reshuffle, a change will be made. It was just that and when I tweeted about it, people said it is a very sentimental tweet. But I was genuinely thanking them. There has been a change in the Mumbai Congress leadership. Will this put an end to factionalism? I think so. It (Congress) is more on solid ground now. Earlier, you did see tu-tu main-main kind of a thing that happens in every party. Everybody is disgruntled about something or doesn’t agree with someone and I think decisions were taken keeping all this in mind. Now, everyone is working as a cohesive unit. They know the importance of this election. How is your campaign going to be different from 2014? That election (2014) was based on a wave. I remember that while campaigning, I could feel that undercurrent. I felt I am not getting through to anybody. But this time, it is different and I could feel that something has changed. In 2014, people just didn’t want to listen to you. I remember they didn’t even know who the candidate was. They were just talking about BJP and Modi. Hum Modi ko vote karenge. it was like they were brainwashed in some manner. It is different this time. I am not even comparing the two polls. Click here for more election news Why not? Now, people are questioning, they are angry. People are saying ‘what they promised and look at our haalat today’. They are also comparing — ‘yeh paanch saal kya hua aur jab UPA sarkar thi tab kya hua’. We need to understand people’s concerns. They are not concerned with what is happening nationally. What’s the feedback on the work done by BJP MP Poonam Mahajan? I will not comment on anyone’s work. I will talk about my weaknesses and strength. You must ask the people about the work that has been done or not done. I can just say that we had initiated a lot of work before 2014, which has not been addressed, like the airport slums, SRA projects and slums on government land, which could have easily been constructed in five years. They (BJP) had a full majority and could have done a lot. Nobody since 1984 had secured a full majority, which was extremely positive to begin with, but what has happened? How will you the counter the political narrative around nationalism, religion and community? I don’t think this narrative of religion of communalism is in our grain. We have always spoken about inclusive growth. people said we are more of a Muslim party and believe in appeasing Muslims. We believe in uplifting the poor. if a section of a community is in that position, yes we will uplift them. That is our narrative of inclusive growth, not a narrative of Hindu and Muslim and Sikh and Christian. Where did that ever come from? There was nothing like mob lynching. Suddenly, this word has come up. People have become vigilantes and the government is doing nothing about it. We have seen huge changes. Not just in the narrative in the country but even the way things have been going on. People are scared to say anything because they will be termed anti-national’. This new thing of ‘urban naxal’ has come up. Journalists who write passionately about what they feel are under threat. These are detrimental for a so-called progressive country. It is taking us back by many, many years. We have fought these things and come this far. And now we just go back to a time when caste and religion was above everything? That was something we fought against. Will parties like Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi will eat into Congress’ minority vote? Our voters are very sensible. They have realised that many Muslim parties have come up only to split votes. Now they just ask how much are you (candidate) being paid to contest. They understand that the fight is between Congress and BJP. Anyone else who comes will be splitting the votes. The voters have understood that. A section of voters might still vote for (AIMIM chief Asaduddin) Owaisi, but I think even someone like Owaisi will not put up a candidate where he knows it will benefit BJP. Today, some parties may even come together for the good of the country. Are minorities feeling let down? All minorities are scared. In a country like ours, they should not be feeling like second class citizens. If we are voted back to power, things will change automatically. When a government is voted to power, it is the ideology of the government too, right? The sense of security just comes in.
