One
of the important pillars of strength for Sonia Gandhi is Digvijay
Singh, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, a seasoned and shrewd
politician who can be depended upon to reinsure Congress victory not
only in his own State but also extend his influence in neighbouring
areas. In the interview which follows , Digvijay Singh not only gives
an idea of what is going wrong with the Vajpayee government but also
what makes him optimistic about Congress victory in the next general
elections.
Q. What is wrong with the Prime Minister, Atal
Bihari Vajpayee?
A. Mr. Vajpayee is a very fine person with sterling
qualities and malice towards none. I am yet to meet a man better than
what Mr. Vajpayee is. But a fine person has to lead and also justify
the office he holds. The tragedy
is that instead of leading the country to Olympian heights as he had
promised the people during campaigns of the last general elections,
which paved the way for him to become the country’s Prime Minister, he
is now
being led, either by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the partners
of the coalition government he is heading.
Q. What are the failures of his government?
A. Is there anything that can be written on the
credit side ever since the Vajpayee government has come to power?
Whatever promises the BJP had made in their election manifesto, they
compromised almost on every item when they sat to finalise a common
agenda with other parties to rule the country. The common agenda of
the coalition which elected Mr. Vajpayee as leader was hailed as a
kind of Magna Carta , a charter whose implementation will put paid to
all the problems facing India. But what has happened? The common
agenda has been ignored. None of the promises made in the common
agenda has been fulfilled.
If happenings in Gujarat were the reaction to the
Godhra incidents, can the government prevent the virus of communal
killing spreading to other States? The masses of the country cannot be
led up the garden path again and again whatever you might claim or
shout as your achievement.
Q. What are the glaring mistakes made by the
government?
A. They have not been able to utilise the surplus
foodgrains lying in godowns to offset the misery caused by drought.
They have not been able to utilise the foreign exchange reserves that
we have in reviving the economy. They have not been able to create a
sense of confidence in the minority community. They have failed to
check inflation. They have not succeeded on any front. In fact, they
have failed everywhere. Kargil was a major blunder. After that we have
only seen scams of different nature. What action has the government
taken against scamsters? Even a person like Bangaru Laxman who had
been trapped on video accepting bribe has not been touched. Why a case
of corruption was not registered against him.? It’s failure all the
way.
Q. What do you think of the government’s handling
of the terrorist problem?
A. You can’t curb terrorism by inciting
Hindu-Muslim animosity. What happened in Gujarat? Was the devastation
caused there a reply to gangsters responsible for the Godhra
incidents? There is total intelligence failure.
What happened in Delhi? Those who planned the assault on India’s
Parliament were living in the Capital.. Yet there was no inkling about
them with the government. Thank God, these terrorists could not enter
Central Hall. Had they done so, what would have happened? India was
just plain lucky that such a catastrophe was averted in time.
Q. What are the plus points of the Congress Party on the basis of
which it will seek to win a mandate in the next elections?
A. . The Congress today has strong leadership. In
whichever State the party is in power, the government has performed
well and implemented welfare measures and schemes much faster than in
other States. There is much more communal harmony, law and order is
better. We are
fulfilling the promises made by the party.
Q. Don’t you think that the party leader, Mrs.
Sonia Gandhi’s foreign tag (she was Italian before she married Rajiv
Gandhi) would restrict the party’s appeal?
A. Not at all. These things are the imagination of
people in Delhi only. They don’t matter with the masses who are
increasingly pinning their hopes on her emergence as the country’s
leader. She would not have won Amethi by a huge victory margin as she
did had she not been accepted by the people. Look at the Congress
victories after her election. All this shows that there is greater
acceptance of her leadership all over the country. In contrast,
Atalji’s popularity ratings are going down. Sonia is our leader and
that is the end of the matter. If the Congress gets majority in the
next elections, she will be our Prime Minister.
Q. Now coming to Madhya Pradesh, has there been any
problem after the formation of Chhatisgarh as a separate state?
A. We have lost out on our power generation, mining
revenue. But by and large both States are viable. There is no problem
at all.