Call him the BJP’s 10 per cent man if you will. The BJP president, Mr Nitin Gadkari, feels that his party can return to power at the Centre if it can bridge the 10 per cent gap in votes with the Congress.
In its effort to gain that elusive 10 per cent, Mr Gadkari told this newspaper in an interview, the BJP has set aside its Ram Janmabhoomi agenda and plans to reach out to the traditional vote bank of the Congress.
Mr Gadkari said the BJP would adopt “21st century politics”, more aimed at progress and development rather than communal issues. Shifting its focus, the BJP is constantly taking up economic issues, he pointed out.
The party will open its arms to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minorities, traditional vote banks of the Congress.
“The BJP is 10 per cent votes behind the Congress. The BJP needs to improve upon its strength in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. We have to strengthen the party base by including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, minorities and labour in the unorganised sector,” Mr Gadkari said.
“Our main focus will be on Andhra Pradesh and South India where the problem of water is severe. We will take up the issue of linking of rivers and conservation of water to increase production by five times.” He evaded a question on Maharashtra, his home state, going ahead with irrigation projects on the upper Godavari basin, affecting existing projects in Andhra Pradesh. Denying that the BJP is a communal party, Mr Gadkari dubbed the Congress as the “most communal party”. “The Congress plays communal politics. Its policy is appeasement of terrorists. The BJP on the other hand, is not against any section of people”. The two ready examples he had to prove his charge was that the file relating to the Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had been kept in abeyance for four years reportedly at the behest of the Union home minister. “The party that is protecting Afzal Guru is described as progressive and secular,” he said. “When we raise the demand of Ram temple at the place of birth of Lord Rama, we are dubbed communal. If you oppose foreign nationals illegally settling down in India, you are described as communal. We are not anti-Muslim. We are anti-terrorists and anti-communal. We do not play politics on the basis of caste, religion, creed and region,” Mr Gadkari said.
Unfolding the party’s new political plan, he said the BJP is not opposed to the Haj subsidy. “Sometimes, it is tragedy of image versus reality. A section of press is involved in spreading the misconception about the BJP and its policies. My statement on Jawaharlal Nehru and the BJP internal affairs was misquoted. I have the tapes of my address with me”.
On the BJP missing its poster boys, Mr Atal Behari Vajyapee and Mr L.K. Advani, Mr Gadkari said “I am not handicapped. I still get their support.”
“We have a collective team of young leaders like Mr Rajnath Singh, Mr Sushma Swaraj, Mr Arun Jaitley and Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu,” the BJP president said, unmindful that describing the leaders who are pushing 60 as “young” would evoke a giggle.
Asked who would be the BJP’s PM candidate, Mr Gadkari said, “It is not election time. When the elections come, we will think of the prime ministerial candidate. For now we will expand our political base, expand our party and increase our mass base.”