Rajnath Singh interview: ‘If someone comes to us and says ‘I want to support you’, should we say no?’

But this (changing the Constitution) the…(Congress) has already done. The Congress should express regret before the public. There can be changes in the Constitution from time to time but not the Preamble. You muzzled and suspended fundamental rights. Nothing of that sort had ever happened in independent India’s history.

You called it rumours, you think these affect your prospects?

No, we have no such fears. I am confident people are very aware. Indians have been using their franchise for the last 75 years and they are not going to fall prey to misinformation. They cannot be misled. Whatever lies they (the Opposition) have spread, we are trying to remove them. If you want to fight elections, do it on issues. Misleading people or playing a fraud on them is not acceptable in politics.

Surat and Indore were said to be easy seats for the BJP. Yet, the party seems to have forced out competition…

What did we do? There have been unopposed elections in India at least 28 times. Of these, the Congress candidates got elected unopposed 20 times.

In one case, the candidate defected after filing the nomination. There have been allegations of misuse of power also.

Why did you give tickets to such candidates? We never approached them. If someone comes to us and says ‘I want to support you’, should we say ‘No’? They may have realised that the Modi government is doing well and they cannot win. You should question that party… Why are you blaming us? Keeping the candidate on your side was your responsibility.

BJP underlines women empowerment, Nari Shakti. How does it justify giving tickets to the son of abuse accused Brij Bhushan Singh and ally JD(S)’s Prajwal Revanna, against whom an SIT has been set up now following allegations of sexual abuse? Recently, there are allegations of sexual abuse against West Bengal Governor.

Prajwal Revanna is from the JD (S). He has gone abroad. How did he go? Who granted him permission? Why did the state government not take action against him? The Brij Bhushan Charan Singh case is sub judice. It cannot be said with certainty there was something wrong. It is not yet proven.

What’s your view on the anti-Muslim statements in this election campaign?

You cannot say BJP is an anti-minority government. Do we discriminate against anyone on the basis of caste, religion or class when it comes to distribution of our schemes? Anyone can be a beneficiary.

What about the statements against particular communities?

They are just clarifications. Our political opponents create confusion and then while clarifying them, there may be some problems. As far as minorities are concerned, we do not want to create a sense of fear among them to earn their support. That’s not our style. We want to create a sense of confidence to gain their support. The Opposition has consistently been trying to create a sense of fear among minorities for electoral advantages. Take the Citizenship Amendment Act. The Opposition is lying to the people. Do you need to lie to get their support in politics? Lying to people is a crime. We believe in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. For us, the entire world is our family, and not just those who live within the boundaries of this nation. But they want to divide people as Hindus, Muslims, Christians etc. This is just to create fear and ensure your vote bank. But I am confident that there is awareness among those communities, too…Minorities are not second-class citizens in the country. We treat them at par with others. Majority or minority, everyone has equal rights. Our efforts are to uplift the downtrodden and those who are socio-economically backward in the society.

In his speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi used terms like “those who have more children,” “illegal immigrants” for Muslims. He even said the mangal sutra will be taken away and given it to Muslims.

Try to understand the context. Sam Pitroda talked about inheritance tax. You tell me, will it not lead to economic recession? Such statements would discourage people from creating wealth. The incentives for creating wealth will be discouraged. There are countries like Venezuela which suffered due to tax policies like inheritance tax. Don’t read too much into the mangal sutra term. He was trying to make people understand. It’s a term everyone will understand when you want to refer to gold. You (Congress leader Rahul Gandhi) are talking about a wealth survey…Why do you want to do a survey?

What about this language used in the campaign?

Sometimes, to make people understand a certain issue or the reality behind the Opposition’s statements, you might use certain phrases. They do not understand things if you say it directly. When the Opposition talks about “doing X-ray” or conducting financial surveys, you have to explain the situation to the people. These are important issues to understand for ordinary people.

Has the BJP approach towards building coalitions changed over the last 10 years? We have seen parties break away and join BJP, you often talk of ethical politics…

What have we done that is unethical… If political parties are split, why should allegations fall on our doors? These are questions to be asked to those who break the party.

There are allegations that BJP is engineering defection, luring these politicians…

Is there even a shred of evidence for levelling such allegations? You cannot lie and lure people into your party. Why are parties disintegrating? There are drawbacks in your thinking, style of functioning, ideology… there is a need for parties to introspect. (The Opposition) cannot blame us for your weaknesses. BJP hasn’t changed, BJP is what it was, and will remain the way it is.

But investigative agencies like ED, CBI and Income-Tax have been unleashed by your government upon leaders of Opposition parties…

These agencies were not set up by our government. They were not allowed to function earlier. They never enjoyed the autonomy they were supposed to get. We have given them autonomy. Just look at the value of assets attached during the UPA and the NDA tenures. During UPA time, the value of assets attached by the ED was only Rs 5,086 crore; during the NDA time it is Rs 1.2 lakh crore. Are we causing loss to the nation or doing good?

But most of the action in political cases is targeted at the Opposition…

Only against those who indulged in malpractices. Let us consider for the time being, that we were in the wrong in our actions. Why don’t you go to the courts? Why are the courts not giving you any relief?

When the same Opposition leaders join the BJP, they get absolved, or the cases get diluted, or the ED goes silent.

Now, those in the Opposition are the ones who said ED had wrongly taken action against their leaders. They themselves said it… It is not true that all of them have been spared. The agencies will continue to do their work.

In Mumbai, when we meet industry persons, there is a sense of fear among them… 

The question is, should agencies like CBI and ED be asked not to do their work? They must continue with their primary functions of bringing to book the wrongdoers through investigation. If an agency has done something wrong, please go to the court.

You don’t see any bias in this?

Why are you questioning the independence and autonomy of the judiciary? In the past, even after the judgement by the courts, the Congress imposed Emergency, retained power, and extended the tenure of Parliament to six years from five years… These are crimes that you have committed. Now you are making allegations against us?

How do you justify letting tainted politicians from the Opposition join your party?

Let agencies do their work. Those who have not done any wrong, they will be let off. Those who are in the wrong, will pay for it. We will not put pressure on agencies, and will not dilute its autonomy.

For instance, Ajit Pawar, Ashok Chavan… the BJP had called them corrupt, but accommodated them…

Don’t people have the right to vote? Doesn’t everyone have the right to practice politics? Be it voting for a party or for someone representing the party… Investigations, in some cases, have been going on for the past 15-20 years; if there was something against them, they would have been behind bars. These investigations need to conclude at some point, right? Why weren’t they punished or arrested?

You have been the Home Minister as well as the Defence Minister… What role do you expect if the BJP wins a third term?

The party president and the Prime Minister are the two authorities that will decide on what I would do in the third term. If they say Rajnath Singh, you have to cut grass, I will do that. If they tell me to carry water, I will do that. If they tell me, you have to go and be there at the borders at this age, I will do that.

In many places across the country, we have heard concerns over the implementation of the Agniveer scheme — mainly about its short tenure. Do you have plans to finetune it?

Results are yet to come to the fore. Once the results start coming in, then people will understand. At the age of 18-19 years, they join the forces. Four years they work, they will have a lump sum amount (of over Rs 11 lakh) in hand, they will have certificates of their intermediate courses and for skills. They will have reservations for jobs in the paramilitary forces, in defence PSUs; private industries have also shown interest to employ them. I would like to assure that our government would not put anyone’s lives in crisis. If there is something which needs to be done in future, we will do that too. But our government will not play with the life of any youth of our country. When we are thinking of the downtrodden sections in our society, would we not think about the jawans protecting our borders?

Concentration of power in politics has increased. For example, in this election, everything revolves around one person — Modi ki guarantee, Modi sarkar. For the BJP, this is a break from the past.

“Modi ki guarantee” means BJP-led NDA government’s guarantee. This is because there has been no confusion about the leader. There is a decision of the parliamentary board that elections will take place under the leadership of Modi, he will be the Prime Minister. That’s why we say it. The BJP-led NDA government will come. Who will be the Prime Minister? There is no confusion about that, too, and we clarify that to the people. So, we say Modi’s government.

You have a majority in the Lok Sabha with 303 seats and you have brought in changes in several policies and laws in the last 10 years. Now, the NDA is targeting 400-plus seats. What would be done with that kind of majority?

That is our estimate. We set our target based on our capability and work. After evaluating the confidence which has developed in people in the government, we believe that the BJP-led NDA will get numbers beyond 400. We will make Bharat a developed country or Viksit Bharat with that number.

With Lok Sabha elections around the corner, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested. What was the tearing hurry?

We never said we want to keep him. This is the work of the agencies. If the agencies are wrong, then the courts would intervene. Why are we being blamed?

Getting bail is a right, underlined several times by the court…But bail is continuously being opposed by investigative agencies to both Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia.

The agencies should be asked this question. If the agency was wrong, the court will look into it. Have the courts never decided against the government?

Recently, the Election Commission of India sent a letter directly to party presidents following complaints over the language used in speeches by leaders including the Prime Minister and Rahul Gandhi. This was a departure from the norm…

I don’t want to give an argument from their side. It would have been different if they had sent it to our party president but not to theirs.

Former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu recently criticised the party- hopping behaviour of political leaders and called it a disturbing trend. What do you think about it?

There is no compulsion here. Whichever party they like, they will go there. There might have been a problem in the first party, that is probably why they are doing it.

Why did your talks with BJD not get through?

We talk, sometimes we agree on things, sometimes we don’t. But we will make gains everywhere (referring to Odisha).

The Navy’s long pending request for a third aircraft carrier was to come before the defence acquisition council. But that did not happen?

Why third only? Fourth and fifth too will happen, eventually. We will see once it comes before the DAC.

What are your goals in future for achieving self-reliance in defence given that India is yet to be able to produce some key tech indigenously, such as aircraft engines?

The goal is to make India 100 percent self-reliant. Even those technologies will be made in India (in collaboration with Original Equipment Manufacturers). It is not necessary that every country in the world manufactures every technology. They will be co-developed in India. For instance, the GE F414 engines (for indigenous light combat aircraft Tejas) will be made in India.

In your constituency, Lucknow, how has the response been?

I am loved by all communities — Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians. At the road show in Lucknow ahead of nomination, members from every community member were present to greet me.