Sushil Modi: 'Excellent that Shatrughan Sinha's no longer in BJP. Without BJP, what existence does he have? Kanhaiya's also a media creation'
Bihar’s deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi spoke with Rohit E David on Shatrughan Sinha, Tej Pratap vs Tejashwi Yadav, why he feels the mahagathbandhan is falling apart, and suing Rahul Gandhi.
Q. You have said that you are going to sue Rahul Gandhi over the statement 'all thieves have Modi as their name' — can you tell us about that?
On April 13, when he was addressing a meeting in Kolar in Karnataka, at that time he apparently said, ‘All thieves are Modi-Nirav Modi, that Modi.’ Does this mean that all thieves have got Modi as their surname? There are many people in this country who have their surname as Modi — in Bihar, there are lakhs of Modis who are into small-time business. Then, Rahul went on to say that ‘chowkidar is chor’ — in Bihar, traditionally the Paswan caste are chowkidars. Ram Vilas Paswan says in meetings that if ‘chowkidar is chor’, then all Paswans are thieves.
I have decided to file a defamation suit against Rahul Gandhi in a day or two.
Q. How do you see the fight in Bihar during this election?
There is no fight in Bihar. The name ‘mahaghatbandhan’ was given by Nitish Kumar and he was the major contributor of this alliance. Tejashwi Yadav met Mayawati and said that, ‘I have blessings of Mayawati’. Now she is also putting candidates in each and every constituency in the state.
We can see in-fighting going on amongst the ‘mahaghatbandhan’ — even before entering the election frame, they are lying about in shambles.
They have given tickets to insignificant people. In 2009, when the BJP-JDU fought the elections together, at that time, NDA won 32 Lok Sabha seats. In 2014, when we fought the elections separately, at that time, the NDA won 31 Lok Sabha seats. With Nitish Kumar, we won 32 seats and without him, we won 31 seats. Now, in 2019, Nitish is with the NDA.
Q. After Nitish sided with Lalu, was the BJP in dire need of joining hands with him for the party's existence in the state?
The BJP has its existence in the state. We won 31 seats in the state on our own in 2014.
In 2015, during the assembly polls, Nitish Kumar also realised that with the RJD, he simply cannot go on for a long time. The BJP wanted that if natural NDA allies came together, then we will be much stronger in the state.
Q. How much impact will Shatrughan Sinha leaving the party have?
I feel that it is excellent that he is not part of us now.
In 2014, the BJP had decided that we will not give a ticket to Shatrughan Sinha. The entire election committee was unanimous for not giving a ticket to him; there was huge opposition against him by the party cardres. Sinha then rang up Rajnath Singh who was BJP president then, he personally requested him and said, ‘I would be insulted if I don’t get ticket’. It was because of Rajnath Singh that he got a ticket despite our opposition.
Without BJP, what existence does Shatrughan Sinha have? He was a star at one time — in the last 20 years, not a single movie featuring him has come. The Patna Lok Sabha seat is a BJP stronghold, we can give a ticket to any party worker from this seat and he/she will win. There is not a single locality in Patna where the BJP does not have its workers. Sinha will lose not less than 2 lakh votes.
The Congress does not have any existence in Patna, they only have Muslims and Yadavs. Star candidates never go to the constituency, nor do they meet party workers.
Q. But are Muslims going to vote for the BJP in this election?
Yes, they will, in comparison to others, they vote less for BJP. NDA has given two tickets to Muslim candidates. There is no fear amongst the Muslims when it comes to the BJP. Our work isn't spread so much amongst the Muslims — we do get their votes but less in numbers.
Q. What’s your view on Kanhaiya Kumar who is contesting from Begusarai? Will he be able to create an upset?
Kanhaiya Kumar is a media creation. He is not even in the fight. In Begusarai, CPI has never won elections since 1998. The fight is between RJD and not with CPI. Only Left liberals are backing Kanhaiya Kumar. Jignesh Mevani was not able to garner votes in Gujarat — what can he do in Bihar? I don’t know who Swara Bhaskar is.
Q. What's your take on Tej Pratap Yadav, who has rebelled and floated his own front?
Tej Pratap Yadav is a victim of discrimination — he is the elder brother and he should have got the reins instead of his younger brother. A divorce petition has been filed and then you are giving a ticket to his father-in-law. Since the last eight months, he has not gone home. When he speaks, he gathers more crowds in comparison to his younger brother, Tejashwi Yadav.
Q. Are people in Bihar now going to vote for Nitish Kumar and his governance or Narendra Modi?
I feel both. There is no anti-incumbency both in the state or centre. We are going to the people, taking into account achievement of both the governments. There is no issue in this election, we have made numerous roads, electricity has reached villages, there is drinking water.
There is no development issue in Bihar.