National - Elections 2004

Q&A: L.K. Advani

I would worry if the Congress disappears

During the second phase of his `Bharat Uday Yatra', the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, in between waving to crowds, addressing public meetings, and giving bytes to television cameras, sat down for a freewheeling interview with Vinay Kumar. Acknowledged as the BJP's chief strategist and star campaigner, he spoke on issues ranging from the NDA experiment, the Ayodhya issue, and the BJP's Vision Document to what he predicted were bleak prospects for the Congress in the coming Lok Sabha elections. Excerpts:

How would you describe your Bharat Uday Yatra experience?

The yatra is more than three weeks old and it has been an extremely satisfying experience. I have no doubt that support for the Vajpayee Government that has been there for quite some time now and which was demonstrated in the recent Assembly elections would become even more consolidated and manifest itself very powerfully in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

You have been saying that there are three important issues in this election — good governance, development and leadership. Has the BJP put the Ram Temple issue on the back burner?

Nothing is put on the back burner. So far as the BJP is concerned, we have a vision and the "Vision Document" has been produced to emphasise the long range vision in which mention is made even of Article 370 and [the] Ram Temple but in a coalition government — whichever be the coalition and whosoever be the principal party — it is part of the coalition dharma to function in an agreed minimum programme. Had it not been agreed to making India a nuclear power in the agreed common programme, there would have been no Pokhran.

Pokhran took place not because nuclear deterrence has been part of Jana Sangh or BJP manifesto since decades but because we were able to make our partners agree to it. So far as the temple is concerned, even before the elections I had been saying that three modes are indicated for sorting out the Ayodhya issue — a court verdict, a parliamentary resolution or an agreement between the two communities.

I am of the view that a court verdict and a Parliamentary resolution even if it occurs, there will be elements who will not accept it and who will continue to agitate so that the solution will not be an enduring solution. Whereas if there is an agreement that would be an enduring solution. But I can say today that in the last six-eight months we in the government have been exerting in that direction, keeping it away from the glare of publicity. Our assessment is that shortly after the new government is formed, this will go further and there would be a negotiated settlement.

You have spoken of Hindu-Muslim reconciliation. Do you see a radical change in the attitudes of the two communities?

I believe that after Independence, the Congress governments' approach to the problem of Hindu-Muslim relations has not been a sound approach. They have tried to satisfy the Muslim community by indulging in appeasement of various kinds which do not promote their welfare. An important ingredient of the Congress party's approach to the Muslim community was to scare them, to frighten them all the while in respect of the Jana Sangh and the BJP. If you do not vote for us, the BJP will come to power and you will be in trouble. Now the BJP has come to power and the Muslim community has seen in the last six years that they have not been in trouble, there has been no problem for them. Therefore, this scare-mongering approach of the Congress party is yielding dwindling results.

Secondly, I believe that Partition took place against the wishes of the Hindus of undivided India. Hindus in general were opposed to the Partition and so after Partition, the continuing clashes between Pakistan and India have only aggravated Hindu-Muslim tension. This government has sought to harmonise India-Pakistan relations and done [it] with earnest, sustained efforts like the bus journey to Lahore, invitation to General Musharraf to come to Agra, and now the third effort after the SAARC conference at Islamabad. All these efforts contribute to lessening of tensions within the country also. Besides, the six years of a BJP-headed government at the Centre has convinced the Muslim community that [the] image created of the BJP has not been correct. I would not say that they have become pro-BJP. No, that would take its own time. Their minds have been disabused of these fears, this is a big achievement.

How big is the American influence in goading Pakistan to have better relations with India? Has the U.S. role been helpful to India?

Our experience of the last several years has been that while Indo-U.S. relations have been cordial our assessment of cross-border terrorism and Pakistan's and America's approach to that issue have been different and we have frankly conveyed to them our view point. But at the same time we think that just as we pursue our own foreign policy, similarly they also have the right to pursue their own foreign policy and where it impinges on India's interests we express our views.

Was not sending troops to Iraq one such example?

Yes, not sending troops to Iraq or going in for the nuclear deterrent were two major incidents where America felt unhappy with India but that did not bother us.

Going back to the Vision Document, the Prime Minister has expressed his unhappiness over the way the party has gone for an overkill with his pictures in it. Do you think the BJP is moving towards a personality cult?

I do not think so. I would only say that this happens in many democracies of the world where the compulsions of mass communication make the campaigners identify a personality with a viewpoint and to sell that viewpoint to the people, they project that personality. Liberalisation, privatisation by themselves were policies adopted by the Government in the U.K. headed by Margaret Thatcher. So it was felt that it is possible to promote that viewpoint in the name of Thatcherism. It was called Thatcherism which has not been here. But it is certainly there that Vajpayeeji becomes identified with the viewpoint and the approaches that the BJP stands for. Therefore Vajpayeeji is projected very naturally.

So the USP of the BJP's leadership remains Mr. Vajpayee? Yes, certainly. There is no doubt about it.

You have said there is no wave in these elections. Is the scenario bereft of emotional issues?

I have not said there is no wave. There are no emotional issues as generally understood and though when I have been trying to analyse why this massive response to the Yatra I concluded that the response is not on the issue of governance and development as much as it is because of the party's projection that we want to make India a fully developed country and a global power before 2020. It is that which strikes an emotional chord in the hearts of the people. Bijli, Sadak, Pani [power, roads, water] are hard realities which are necessary in which good governance also figures and we have won on that basis in the Assembly elections but insofar as the Yatra is concerned it is tying to emphasise that India has the potential to become a great power.

Would you say that the people identify the BJP with this kind of programme?

If I had said this 10 years ago, I would not have got this response because it would have been perceived as election rhetoric. Because of our track record of six years it is believed. One of the biggest achievements of BJP during the last six years has been that it has achieved credibility in the eyes of the people.

Are post-poll alliances going to be of crucial importance?

I do not think so. I think that the NDA as it is constituted today will get a very decisive majority.

In the event of the BJP reaching its target of 300 seats, would it still go for a NDA government?

Yes, it will be a NDA government. We are committed to it.

You have talked of your Government's track record. You have also handled several sensitive assignments in the NDA Government. How would you sum up this tenure?

For a person who has had no experience of government, for him to have been handling what can be regarded as a key portfolio in any government and then formally to be assigned the responsibility of the Deputy Prime Ministership, it's been a very onerous responsibility. But at the end of these six years I am fully satisfied that I have been able to do some justice to my responsibility.

You have said the Congress will not reach the three-digit figure in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Not reaching three digits is not so much a cause of worry as the fact that the Congress has ceased to think about itself; it is dwindling. I would worry if it disappears. If it goes below three digits, it is understandable in the present context. But the manner in which it is functioning, there is not even an effort to think why it has gone wrong, why it is dwindling. After all, from 1984 till 2004, 20 years have passed and not a single election has seen the Congress in a better situation than before. It is worsening. It has not improved even once.

Does not the entry of Rahul Gandhi into electoral politics show that the Congress is trying to rebound?

I do not want to comment on that. It is not even worth a comment but I said on the day the vision document was released, I said this makes me feel happy that ours is perhaps the only party that can be described as a thinking party. Ek chintansheel dal hai, jo chintan karta hai.

Would say that the BJP is drifting away from its ideology?

No, not at all. Therefore the Vision Document.

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