As the media and BJP’s political rivals indulged in stock-taking of the accomplishments of the Modi Government on the completion of two years in office, BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday felt that “responsiveness” was the biggest achievement of the NDA regime.
“It’s not easy to pinpoint a single achievement,” Shah said while sipping a cup of tea during a marathon round-table interaction with a group of mediapersons, and added, “But I would say that being a responsive Government is our biggest achievement. Ours is a responsive Government. We try to address whatever issue comes before us.”
He went on to add that during the last two years, several issues confronted the Government, “but we did not shirk our responsibility. We tried our best to address every issue that came before us.”
That question set the stage for a freewheeling interaction in which Shah entertained a range of tricky questions with a smile. Several questions, specially on the possibility of change of leadership in Gujarat and projection of a “face” for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, were repeated ad nauseam, but Shah remained unfazed and either ducked them or came back with the same answer, “The party has not discussed it.”
When asked specifically if he was ruling out any change of leadership in Gujarat, Shah once again said, “The party has not discussed it.” When asked whether it meant it could be discussed at a later stage, he replied with a laugh, “We have not discussed it either.”
However, Shah rejected the contention that the party was on a sticky wicket in Gujarat following the violent Patidar quota agitation, claiming that it will win a two-third majority in the State, where polls are due in 2017-end.
The forthcoming UP election consumed most of the time of the Press interaction. Shah kept saying that the party has not made up its mind on projecting a leader as Chief Ministerial candidate as was done it case of Assam. “We can’t have the same strategy for every State,” he said.
“In Assam, we were not a force, but in UP we are very well-placed,” he said. “I’m sure, we are going to capture power with absolute majority,” the BJP chief added.
Projecting the Samajwadi Party as its main rival in UP, Shah said his party would highlight the issue of misgovernance and collapse of administration in the State and put forth its own vision about placing the State back on the track of development.
On why he was discounting the BSP, Shah said, “It was his personal view. Others have their own views.”
Shah said there was no proposal right now of RlD leader Ajit Singh joining the NDA ahead of the UP polls. “No such talks have taken place,” he said. Shah said he would visit UP thrice in the next fortnight.
To a query whether he was under pressure to deliver in UP, he said, “There is always pressure on me.” Asked about Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s plan to contest the UP polls, Shah said if the Nitish factor worked, it would only benefit the BJP. He was apparently referring to the possible split of “secular” votes in the presence of Kumar’s JD(U) in the electoral fray.
Shah, who led the BJP to victory in several States, but under whose leadership the BJP suffered massive losses in Delhi and Bihar, also rejected the contention that it was at a disadvantage in Uttarakhand following its failed bid to topple the Harish Rawat Government. “There is a massive anti-incumbency wave in the State. We will come to power whenever polls are held,” he asserted. The hill State will go to the polls with UP next year.
Asked about the likely reshuffle in the Union Council of Ministers, he said it would happen whenever it has to.
The BJP president said every State and every lok Sabha and Assembly seats was equally important for him. “That’s why I’m going to start my campaign to highlight the achievement of the Modi Government from Andaman & Nicobar. Even a small State is equally significant in our scheme of things,” He said.
While the BJP president described party’s victory in Assam as an emotive and ideological issue, he said the BJP’s performance sin Kerala was most heartwarming since the BJP-SNDP alliance got nearly 15 per cent votes in the southern State. “I see very bright prospect for the BJP in Kerala. Fifteen per cent is very high vote share. Before capturing power in Karnataka and Gujarat, we had polled less than 15 per cent votes,” he said.
On BJP’s prospect in next year’s Assembly polls in Punjab, Shah did not sound too optimistic. “What I read in the media is not very encouraging. But many things are sometime only in the air,” he said. However, he made it clear that the BJP-SAD alliance will remain intact in Punjab. “We will fight the elections together,” he said.
On being asked why the Modi Government had failed to take out its achievements to the masses, Shah said, this perception was confined to only Delhi’s lutyens zones. “I’m sitting here with you all for two hours to address this issue,” he said with a smile, “It’s time journalists also go to the masses.”