New BJP government in Karnataka will follow minimum standards set by Narendra Modi ji: Amit Shah, BJP President

BJP president Amit Shah discusses his party’s prospects in Karnataka, choice of BSY as CM candidate, why its state governments are different, bane of dynastic politics, electoral reforms, farmers’ distress, unemployment and other issues in an interview with ET.

What is your assessment about the Karnataka elections?
It’s certain that we will form the government, securing a majority. I have done a detailed tour of Karnataka and visited every district. There is a sense of excitement among people to make the Bharatiya Janata Party form the next government in Karnataka.

What makes you so confident?
The first reason is the efficient way the Narendra Modi government has functioned at the Centre. Information on the performance of other BJPruled states has also been flowing into Karnataka. Nowadays, word spreads quickly from one state to another because the aspiration and urge for development are very high. Everyone knows today that development is possible only if you are a part of Modi’s Vikas Yatra (development trip). This is how the BJP has been winning elections in state after state.

The second factor is our responsive organisation. We have ensured that it extends in real terms up to the booth level. Today, we have a machinery that can convert the affection people have for Narendra Modiji and for his government into votes. Besides, the Congress government in Karnataka is discredited and has failed on every front. There are so many cases of corruption that now the public feels that all limits have been crossed. Law and order has been torn apart, police officers are committing suicides; more than 3,500 farmers have committed suicide; Bengaluru’s infrastructure has not improved. You can say Karnataka’s development is stuck in Bengaluru’s traffic. There’s mood for change in the entire state. Who can bring the change? The BJP is the natural choice for the people.

Has BJP been able to improve its presence in Mysore region and Vokkaliga-dominated areas?
There’s been a big shift in Mysore, Mandya, Karnataka rural…The BJP has increased its presence in all Vokkaliga-dominated areas, because of which there’s today greater acceptance. We will definitely win seats this time.

How will you convince the electorate that your message is different on corruption when your local face is the same?
First, all charges against Yeddyurappaji have been dropped, after due legal process, by the court. Not a single charge could be proved. I feel that people have accepted the legal outcome and it is no longer an issue. Secondly, there are common minimum standards we follow for BJP governments across the country under Narendra Modiji’s leadership. Each CM is required to come to the headquarters every three months for a meeting with Modiji and me. We have detailed deliberations in those meetings. There are parameters of performance that we have set and all governments have to work within them. I am confident that people of Karnataka know that their new government will also work in this direction.

Is this also the reasoning behind giving tickets to the Reddy brothers?
We have only given tickets to MLAs among the Reddy brothers. They were elected in 2013 and even then, there were no charges against them. Janardhan Reddy is campaigning in only one or two places in his personal capacity. He’s not campaigning for the BJP.

What’s your outlook on second or third generation politicians trying to take up their family mantle?
There are many of our workers whose children are in politics. But if the son is promoted at the same time when the head of the family is himself the main leader or president or chief minister, then party workers feel demoralised. This is not a good sign for a healthy democracy.

In many places, the children of politicians work their way up as ordinary workers through the structure, and their acceptance grows over time… then there’s no restriction. But who should be a political leader is to be decided by birth, then it’s a wrong tradition. BJP is a party which has maintained internal democracy, where an ordinary worker can rise to the highest levels based on hard work, loyalty and merit. I was once the head of a booth committee; today I am the president of the party. Modiji also struggled from the lowest rung to become the country’s prime minister. We have no family background in politics. Most of our chief ministers are also without any such background. They have all risen through the ranks as ordinary party workers. I am a firm believer that talent can surface only if we do away with dynastic politics.

What was your complaint to the Election Commission against the Congress?
SDPI has withdrawn its candidates in favour of the Congress. SDPI is an outfit of the PFI, a communal outfit. Announcements were made to take back cases related to SDPI and PFI. If this is not an example of playing the communal card, then what is? Anniversaries of known Kannada poets like Kuvempu and Visvesvaraya are not celebrated, neither that of Madakari Nayaka nor Rani Chennamma, but you celebrate the anniversary of Tipu Sultan…then questions will be raised. And they should be. The Congress has made it a habit to win elections by playing the communal card. This persists, but the people have started rejecting this.

Why has the Centre not banned PFI?
The BJP is not in power in states where the PFI is active. The Kerala government has sent a request for PFI’s ban but without supporting documents. This involves a legal process and if not done properly, it will be challenged in a court of law. Karnataka has sent nothing. If we form the state government, then we will send a formal request with all necessary supporting documentation for PFI’s ban.



What’s your view on the use of big money in Karnataka elections?
I feel the people of Karnataka will defeat the game of big money this time. I welcome the debate that’s happening on the use of ill-gotten wealth in elections. BJP fights elections on the basis of our agenda and the popularity of our leader.

What do you think should be done for transparency in electoral financing?
The Narendra Modi government has already taken many steps: We have brought down the cash donation limit from `20,000 to `2000. That means, if you want to deposit `1 crore in the bank, it will be difficult to make so many fake receipts. So, more donations will be made via cheques. I have lot of hope in the government’s electoral bonds scheme. I think it can become a medium by which someone can donate without fear of vindictiveness.

Have electoral bonds worked?
It’s a new arrangement. I think there should be a discussion among all political parties, the government and the Election Commission after one or two years. And if there’s any scope for improvement, we should consider it but with the intent to carry forward this system.

How much of BJP’s recent expansion do you expect to translate into Lok Sabha seats in 2019?
I don’t know how you look at expansion. The fact is that this will get converted into seats only. In Manipur and Tripura, we didn’t have a single seat but today we have majority governments there. In Assam, we had only four seats; in UP we had 43 seats but today it’s 325.

How many seats will you predict for BJP in 2019?
In 2019, under Modiji’s leadership, the NDA will form a government with a majority bigger than present.

Which are your focus states?
Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are our focus states for 2019. We have made rapid strides in the states. In Odisha, we are the main challenger to the Biju Janata Dal.

Do you think demonetization and GST have led to economic slowdown?
It would be an inaccurate evaluation to describe a temporary effect as slowdown. Growth has improved and will continue to improve. Revenue has also increased. Today, every parameter of the economy is being nurtured and maintained in a disciplined manner. Bimal Jalan has said that India’s economic situation is the best today in the last 25 years. He’s a former RBI governor and we did not appoint him. He is an intellectual and this is his observation.

Has the political effect of the two been negative?
How? We have won elections everywhere. If we win the Karnataka polls, this will be the 15th election we would have won since 2014.

How do you intend to address farmers’ distress?
The farmer is not able to get the right price for his produce. Irrigation is the second problem. And the third is the problem of not receiving enough compensation when he loses crop to natural disasters. The government has acted on all three fronts. It was announced in this budget that for both rabi and kharif crops, the government will give one-and-a-half times the MSP. This will be a big financial burden for the government but will provide greater relief for the farmer. More than 150 irrigation programmes have been launched and even micro-irrigation has been encouraged. We have also brought a comprehensive insurance scheme that covers crop loss to natural calamities from the time it is sowed to the time it’s stored. We are open to suggestions to improve them. While these three steps are in the pipeline, they are efforts to address the problems farmers face today. Our aim is to double farmer income by 2022. Since 67% of India is BJP governed, we are equipped to implement the schemes down to the last detail.

What’s your assessment about unemployment?
I believe that unless we include the data of self-employed in our employment data calculations, we will never get the big picture right in a country of our size. The BJP government under Narendra Modiji has tried to give self-employment to over 9 crore youth under the Mudra Yojna. These are small businesses and someone like P Chidambaram even makes fun of these. But these are means to livelihood, even if they are small. Also, speed of laying railway tracks, constructing roads and electrification has improved, coal production has increased...will all this be not contributing to increasing employment? At some point, we will have to take a relook at the way we collect and calculate the statistics.

What is your assessment for year-end assembly polls?
We will secure an absolute majority in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Our governments have worked well there and our organisational framework is strong in all three states.

What about the recent by-elections?
By elections are not for making governments, they are for electing representatives. When the intent is for forming a government, the voter weighs in many things. For a byelection, the voter only considers local issues.