Interview/ Baijayant Panda, BJP election in-charge, Delhi
WHILE THE BJP has swept the last three Lok Sabha elections in Delhi, it has faltered at the assembly stage. Since October, Baijayant Panda, BJP national vice-president and Lok Sabha member from Odisha, has been spearheading the party’s campaign to break its “capital jinx”. In an interview with THE WEEK at his home, adorned with works of Jamini Roy and M.F. Husain, Panda was optimistic that Delhi voters were ready for change. Excerpts:
Q/ The BJP hasn’t been in power in Delhi since 1998. Do you think this streak will be broken this time?
A/ The BJP will comfortably form government in Delhi. The people have endured 10 years of this aapda (disaster). They’ve been subjected to false promises―whether it’s cleaning the Yamuna or tackling pollution. Basic services like water supply are a shambles, with people forced to buy bottled water; the Jal Board’s water quality is so poor it can cause typhoid.
Meanwhile, India is the world’s fifth-largest economy with rapid development in other states. Yet, Delhi, the capital, looks anything but [developed].
Q/ The AAP has the advantage of having a clear chief minister face; the BJP hasn’t declared one yet.
A/ Quite the opposite. The so-called CM face of the AAP (Arvind Kejriwal) had to resign because of a major corruption scandal... the Supreme Court’s bail conditions prevent him from functioning as chief minister.
They insulted their own chief minister (Atishi), who happens to be a woman, saying she’s a temporary chief minister. So, it is for them to answer who is going to lead their team if the leader is legally unable to. Truth is, they don’t have a face.
Our situation is different. We have a hugely popular leadership at the national level and, at the state level, we have developed leaders from the cadre. In the past 12 months, in states like Odisha, Haryana and Maharashtra, we have won with collective leadership.
Q/ All parties have promised sops for women. Are sops now intrinsic to Delhi?
A/ Before Prime Minister Modi established this trend, all other parties used to treat their manifesto as just a formality. The prime minister has focused right from the beginning on women’s rights, from Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao to tackling malnutrition. To come to our sankalp (promise), financial assistance to women, LPG cylinders and assistance to pregnant women, these are things we have already done in other states. Whereas the aapda has been exposed because three years ago, they announced similar financial assistance for women in Punjab and Delhi, but have not [delivered].
Q/ How would the BJP counter the popularity of the AAP’s schemes like free electricity and water?
A/ BJP leaders, including the prime minister, have said that no welfare schemes benefiting the poor will be discontinued. We ourselves run many welfare programmes, like free ration for 800 million and the Ayushman Bharat scheme. The difference is whatever we commit, we first budget for it with reasonable fiscal estimates.
Q/ Kejriwal has claimed that the BJP promising to continue his welfare schemes is a stamp of approval on his model of governance.
A/ Nobody wants to copy his model of corruption. Nobody wants to copy his model of saying free transport in DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation) buses, but only one third of the buses are available. Nobody wants to copy his model of promising on his children that he will live in a two-bedroom flat, and then building this sheesh mahal (crystal palace) with gold-plated basins and toilets worth millions of rupees. People of Delhi want to throw out that model.
Q/ The BJP has criticised the AAP government’s policies on education and health care. What is your party’s alternative?
A/ How can they call their health care [policies] a success when they have not availed of thousands of crores [of rupees] available to them. The mohalla clinics were not used during Covid-19. As for the schools, they have tried to create the propaganda that by remodelling one school, all schools have been changed. Not many people know that dozens of schools have been closed in the past 10 years. They spend more on advertising than bigger states do.
The BJP has made it clear that we will bring schemes from the Union government and run a conflict-free government. The double-engine government will be run in collaboration with the Union urban development ministry, the DDA (Delhi Development Authority) and the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi). You will see a dramatic turn. We are also committed to revamping education with a special focus on the underprivileged. We are going to implement it in the first cabinet meeting after forming the government.
Q/ Law and order and women’s safety are serious concerns. Policing is under the Centre. How will things change if the BJP comes to power?
A/ Of course it will change. How many AAP leaders have been arrested, not just for corruption? One of their prominent MLAs is in jail charged under the stringent MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act). Just like dons, he calls up and extorts money. Many of their leaders are involved in illegal activities.
Now they can try to shift the blame, but it’s not that simple, because if your leader and ministers are associating with the liquor mafia, will there not be crime?
The police are there to control crime, but crime has to be stopped at the source. You have to rid the Delhi government of corruption and criminal elements.
Q/ Would the Congress doing well in these polls help the BJP?
A/ The Congress can never help the BJP; it is on its own trajectory. It is in a battle for survival as it has lost ground in many parts of India and remains a third or fourth player. The Congress has experimented with coalitions and alliances, but it still lost the Lok Sabha polls. Its game is how to stop the BJP and not how to develop [the country].
