Bhupender Yadav, environment and labour minister and two-term Rajya Sabha MP contesting his maiden Lok Sabha election from Alwar in Rajasthan, feels there is nothing wrong in the “400-paar” target set by the BJP.
“Kya lakshya tay nahi hona chahiye? Kya Everest pe chadne ka lakshya tay nahi karna chahiye (Should we not set a target? Should we not aim to reach the top of the Everest)?” Yadav said while campaigning in Alwar, eastern Rajasthan, last Wednesday.
“If some party has set a target, what is wrong in it? Is there any law that one party cannot have more than a certain number of members in Parliament? All parties set targets to expand. What is wrong in it?” the minister said when asked by The Telegraph if the “Abki baar 400-paar” cry reeked of a plan to push the country towards one-party rule.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: From a backroom strategist to contesting the election yourself. How has this role reversal experience been so far?
Yadav: I am enjoying every moment. I have covered each and every panchayat of the Lok Sabha constituency. I leave home at 6am and return around midnight. I am thankful to the party leadership for having given me this opportunity. I have worked as election in-charge in many states but this is my first direct election.
Q: Many feel this election will decide the fate of the country. What is the significance of this election in your view?
Yadav: Elections in democracy are for an alternative. But in this election there is no Opposition. After a very long time we are witnessing a pro-government election. If you go out in the villages and ask people who they want as PM, the instant reply is Modiji. So people are voting to make Modi the PM. This rare phenomenon takes place only when the credibility of an incumbent government and leader is very high.
Q: You have been seeking votes in the name of Modi and “Modi ki guarantee”. Where do you (the candidate) fit into this model? Are you as a candidate just a symbol?
Yadav: No, I am not a symbol. I act as a bridge to connect people’s aspirations. Modi’s guarantee means a collective effort to realise the dream of a Viksit Bharat.
Q: Was it your choice or the party’s decision to contest the elections?
Yadav: I have always been a committed party worker and whatever party decides I follow.
Q: You are being branded as an ‘outsider’ by your opponents since you are not from Alwar.
Yadav: You should ask Congress people what is their definition of an outsider. They are trying to spread this lie. I have been working in this area for the past 40 years. I have family relations. I have used my Rajya Sabha member funds to get over 193 projects done in Alwar. I adopted four villages here as part of the model village scheme. I know more than 100 party workers here by name.
Q: This is perhaps the first election in which the government is facing the charge of denying the Opposition a level playing field. The way a sitting chief minister has been arrested just before the polls and the bank account of the principal Opposition has been frozen...
Yadav: Should level playing field be with corrupt money or valid money? You steal taxes and then talk of a level playing field. If somebody is facing corruption charges then he should clarify.
Q: But why this selective approach? When leaders facing corruption charges join the BJP, they get reprieve.
Yadav: It was the Congress that had filed a petition in court against Arvind Kejriwal, in connection with which he has been jailed. So is there an underhand deal between the two? The action against Kejriwal is based on court proceedings. So they (Opposition) don’t trust the court too?
Q: The question is of people like Ajit Pawar, Ashok Chavan and many others who have earned reprieve after joining the BJP.
Yadav: Proceedings against none have been stopped. The law will take its course. Nobody is above the law. There is no government interference in any of the cases. Courts are independent in this country.
Q: If the BJP is so confident about its victory, why this rush to poach Opposition leaders?
Yadav: A party should expand. Any party aspires to expand. If people are ready to accept our ideology and join us, then what is wrong in it?
Q: But there are allegations that people are joining the BJP under pressure.
Yadav: There is no pressure at all. No one is joining under pressure. Every citizen in this country is free. There is freedom of expression.
Q: Doesn’t the “400-paar” cry betray an effort to push the country towards one-party rule?
Yadav: When the Congress secured 400-plus seats, was it one-party rule? When Rajiv Gandhi got 400-plus seats, was it one-party rule?
Q. But that was a rare election, an emotive one after the assassination of Indira Gandhi.
Yadav: Kya lakshya tay nahi hona chahiye? Kya Everest pe chadne ka lakshya tay nahi karna chahiye? If some party has set a target, what is wrong in it? Is there any law that one party cannot have more than a certain number of members in Parliament? All parties set targets to expand. What is wrong in it?
