Chief Minister Raman Singh is high on expectations of his third victory in a row in Chhattisgarh. He is equally confident about the return of the NDA at the Centre with Narendra Modi taking charge of the poll campaign at the national level.
The doctor-turned-politician, however, has a word of caution for the party - practice inclusive politics.“Politics needs to be inclusive. We need to embrace every section of society. There cannot be discrimination on the basis of region, religion and language. No one is untouchable for the BJP,” Singh told The Pioneer.
To a specific question, Singh replied: “There should be no hesitation in sporting a tilak or topi. Why should one have reservationsIJ BJP believes in taking people along. We will keep doing that.”In the run-up to the polls, Singh wants the BJP to highlight failures of the Congress Government, both at the Centre and in States. He also wants the party to compare the performance of the NDA and the UPA.
“BJP will be way ahead of the Congress. We need to focus on the right issues,” he said.Singh admitted that certain leaders had raised “some issues” when the decision to appoint Narendra Modi as head of the BJP campaign committee was taken, but claimed that all those have been “resolved” now and the party is “united.” A relaxed-looking Singh pinned hope on Modi’s popularity.
“The country has a lot of expectations from him (Modi). Politics and comments would keep happening.”However, Singh was careful not to join the debate on Modi’s projection as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the party.“let us get the numbers first. Once we have that, we can always decide who the Prime Minister should be,” Singh said.
Singh clarified that he was not suggesting that the BJP should take a call on the Prime Ministerial candidate only after elections.“I am merely saying this is a matter outside my domain. And why should there be hurry on our part to project our Prime Ministerial candidateIJ Has the Congress done itIJ No one asks the Congress about their leader,” Singh said.
On the possible Prime Ministerial candidate for the BJP, Singh said: “There are so many of them. lK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Narendra Modi and many others.”However, he ruled himself out of the race for the country’s top job.“I am not in the race for the PM’s post. My focus is to ensure development of Chhattisgarh. I have filled the potholes left by the Congress Government, now it’s time to speed up development.”
Singh gives full credit to Advani for building the party. “Atal ji and Advani ji are the most senior leaders of the party. The BJP is because of Advani ji. His role will remain crucial in the BJP,” Singh said.Singh is also a strong votary of Advani’s “NDA plus” idea. He is hopeful that the BJP would successfully stitch-up alliances with other parties nearer to the election or after that.
“It is true that some of our allies have left us, but, since 1977 we have seen how alliances are made. Politics is an art of possibility. Everything is possible. Today we have few allies, tomorrow there could be many. We have to run a coalition of 25-odd parties,” he said.