BJP National President JP Nadda hits out at Congress for making personal attacks against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi From the day he assumed office. He said senior party leaders… Rahul Gandhi And former President Sonia Gandhi could not digest that a common man could be the Prime Minister. Referring to the statement of Mallikarjun Kharge who called the Prime Minister Ravana, Nadda said that the Congress national president is speaking in such words that ‘have come from Rahul Gandhi’.
In a special interview given to Mariya Shakeel, Political Editor, CNN-News18Nadda on Thursday confirmed the saffron party’s record-breaking return to power with the first phase of voting for the Gujarat assembly elections. After the counting of votes on December 8, the second phase of polling will be held on December 5.
Nadda also targeted the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP and the Congress, saying the parties only tried to divert the attention of the people of Gujarat. But the voters have always reposed faith in the BJP and Prime Minister Modi, for whom they had immense love and affection.
Here are excerpts from the interview:
It looks like there is no election in Gujarat because in 2017 all your worries have gone away. What according to you are the areas of concern at the moment?
There are no worry areas; At that time also some were raised but they cannot be termed as concerns as we are working for the people of Gujarat. The BJP has taken care of all issues – major or minor – and people have always stood by the BJP, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in whom they have complete faith. He has immense love and affection towards them, so we find that in this election also he feels that the development that has taken place should continue. That growth has also gained momentum and they want it to be maintained.
The BJP has been in power continuously for 27 years. Is the BJP hoping to better its performance, which was its best in 2002 with 127 seats? How important is a big win for the BJP?
Gujarat has realized that other parties only tried to divert and distract people from the real issues, but it was BJP which always came up with positive answers. They believe in us and you will find that BJP will break all time records. It is not negative, it is all positive; This is not an anti-incumbency wave; It is not that people don’t have choice so they are voting for BJP, it is for BJP.
So is this a pro-incumbency vote?
I will be able to comment on this after polling percentage. I will say one thing and that is we are going to break all records as far as this performance is concerned.
Do you think it’s a bipolar contest?
It is a bipolar contest. The name of the party you are taking is a non-starter and their history shows that they come to every state and create hue and cry, make tall promises and then they have to face the voters. An AAP leader also went to Varanasi to contest elections, he was shown his place and then he said that he will never contest elections. Anyway, AAP contested in Uttar Pradesh, where there are 350 seats. He contested 69 seats in Uttarakhand claiming that he was the only option. He lost 65 out of 69 seats. There were a lot of advertisements for AAP in Goa and fought on 35 seats and lost.
But your victory in Punjab…
His fight in Punjab was not with the BJP. The same fate will befall them whenever they face the BJP. Mark my words, he will lose on all the seats he is contesting from Gujarat. They are a non-starter.
Saurashtra and South Gujarat regions have always been challenging for the BJP as we saw in 2017. In Surat, out of 16 seats, BJP managed to win 14 seats. What are the concerns in this region and in the tribal belt?
Like I said, no worries. The opposition party tries to raise concerns, be it AAP or Congress which consider these areas as their vote bank. But nothing is going to happen, everyone is going to vote for BJP. Other parties only shed crocodile tears, they did nothing for the tribals. If I talk about Saurashtra, they have not done anything. What about water scarcity? Who was the one who obstructed the Sardar Sarovar Dam? Rahul Gandhi came for a day and was seen with Medha Patkar, we need not say anything because we can see what kind of people he is associating with. They are not for Bharat Jodo but for Bharat Todo, they are anti-Gujarat.
Don’t you think it would be complacent for the BJP not to consider anyone as a rival?
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We are never complacent, we fight elections like this, we fight till the end and we fight with all our might.
Is it BJP vs BJP?
Analysts are worried about something else. BJP has no problem as we try to see that everyone joins hands with BJP. We try to see that this is one big family of people with aspirations. BJP is an ideological and cadre-based party and when the cadre decides, people only vote for that person and rebels have no place in the political setup.
I have been in Gujarat and I have seen the tremendous recall value of Prime Minister Modi. The Congress has recently started a narrative, in which Mallikarjun Kharge has given a derogatory statement regarding the 100 heads of Ravana. All AAP party leaders have condemned this statement. Do you see this as a personal attack on the Prime Minister?
Congress started the story when Kharge called PM Modi as Ravan. Is this a personal attack? From the day Narendra Modi came to power, Sonia (Gandhi) and Rahul Gandhi have not been able to digest it. He never thought that even a common man could sit on that seat. He never kept pace with the situation where the PM was running the country. These words belong to Rahul Gandhi. Kharge ji is speaking his own language, he is not following the norms and standards. They are disappointed and they should feel it because BJP has always maintained its composure.
Whenever there have been personal attacks against the PM, be it statements like ‘maut ka saudagar’ or ‘chaiwala’, which happened in 2014, it has always backfired. Why do you think so?
The BJP has always tried to maintain a certain level of decency in political life and public comments. If someone makes a comment that is not at that level, we take care that such comments do not appear in the future. But in the political system of the Congress, you get benefits. If you make such statements then you get promoted.
Do you think Kharge will be promoted? He is already the Congress President. Is it the support of the Gandhi family?
Definitely an endorsement and appreciated by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. These comments backfire because of the popularity of Narendra Modi, the love and affection of the people of India India for PM.
As always in elections, the overall political discourse actually declines. Why do you think this happens? The Congress is also saying that the BJP leadership does not trust the local leadership.
what’s the problem? This is our approach and this is how we fight elections. You asked me why I am going to the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections. I said that not only me but Amit Shah will go with me. We went there and won the election. what’s the problem? They don’t know how the opposition party should function. I told them to take some tuition from us as we have been in opposition for the longest time.
Since BJP is campaigning extensively for the MCD elections, AAP has said that BJP has become a “Video a Day” party.
A video comes from where the health minister is getting massage and he does not give clarification on that account and says that we have opened a video center. Do you consider this a responsible statement from a leader of a political party?
BJP is trying to create an impression that AAP is full of corrupt leaders…
Not a belief, it is a fact. I will not give ticket to anyone with a criminal record. Three are in jail – one for economic corruption, two for inciting riots. We are not doing anything.
Is this election going to set the course for the elections to be held in 2024? what are your numbers?
We are going to win every election and fight like this. In Himachal, we are quite comfortable and Gujarat definitely and MCD elections too.
Himachal Pradesh is a state which alternates between governments.
This time the rule will remain the same, but the pattern will change.
What numbers do you predict on December 8th?
We will return to power in Himachal Pradesh and break all records in Gujarat.
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