Q/You were dropped as BJP vice president in West Bengal.
A/I am not at all sad about it. There was no job for me as a vice president. But what made me upset was no one from Delhi called me to inform about it. Today, I am thinking of 2016, when I used to get a series of calls from the central leadership for joining the party and fighting elections.
Q/Were you reluctant to join the BJP?
A/I was, in fact, not ready, and my family told me such ideology will not fit with the legacy of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Q/But you went against the family guidance?
A/Yes, that is only because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He loves and respects our family.
Q/Did you expect a call from him before being ousted?
A/No. He is very busy. I expected a call from someone in the leadership. I am going to meet the prime minister, to know whether I am needed or not. If not, then I will have the liberty to decide my future course of action.
Q/Any plans to join the Trinamool Congress?
A/I am still with the BJP, and would remain so as long as the prime minister wishes. If he does not, then I would support anybody who has Netaji’s inclusive ideology.
Q/The state leadership says you did not perform well.
A/To perform, one needs to be tested. I was given the most difficult seats, which were either against [Chief Minister] Mamata Banerjee or to fight Lok Sabha election in her own constituency. I tried my best. You cannot win an election against Mamata Banerjee without organisation [machinery]. The BJP has no organisation in Kolkata.
Q/You were vocal against the Citizenship Amendment Act and mob lynching.
A/Yes, I was. Our family could not accept such a legislation. But I feel that was not the only reason [for the ousting].
Q/What else?
A/When then party president Amit Shah came and invited me to the BJP personally, I realised that BJP has a dearth of intellectuals in Kolkata. I proposed to him that I would like to open a morcha in the BJP named Azad Hind to propagate Netaji’s ideology. He said he would consider. But after some months, when I reminded him, he told me I should take charge of one of the existing morchas in the party.
Q/You then turned disillusioned.
A/Yes. My family said I committed a blunder by joining the BJP. They said I should have known that the BJP’s way of winning elections is through polarisation.
Q/You also believed the same?
A/Not really, because I had full faith in prime minister. But somewhere down the line, I felt my family members have a point.
Q/State leaders say they cannot include any person just because he hails from a famous family.
A/I never played up my family background. I only played up my family ideology of nationalism, secularism and inclusiveness.
Q/Do you feel the current state committee can win the elections in 2021?
A/I cannot say. But I have lot of respect for some of the people who have been taken.