Q/You are a four-time MLA from Singur and led a historic land movement. And now you are in the BJP.
A/When your clothes are old and damaged, you need to change it. Will you be able to wear a torn shirt? No.
Q/But at this age, you could have made a graceful exit.
A/That was my problem. I did not want to be a candidate this time, though I was very fit despite pushing 90. I expected the chief minister to talk to me and explain that she had to drop me. But I came to know from a television channel that I had been dropped. She did not care for my seniority and status.
Q/Why is the Trinamool Congress a torn cloth?
A/One must learn from history. Even Winston Churchill was defeated after World War II. Everyone must change with time to keep afloat. Look at the BJP. Can you make a comparison between what it was two decades ago and what it is now? It will change more in the coming years.
Q/The Trinamool said you were greedy.
A/Let them think whatever they would like to. A four-time MLA and cabinet minister should not be shown the door like this.
Q/Many people said you could not accept the new candidate in Singur.
A/[Trinamool candidate] Becharam Manna is my disciple. I brought him to the Singur movement and gave him prominence. But that does not mean that I will not raise a finger if he becomes corrupt.
Q/But Becharam alleges the same thing.
A/What can I say? For 20 years I served everybody irrespective of their political affiliations. I don’t have a car. I have a very ordinary lifestyle. The problem is, Mamata Banerjee knows me well and respects me, but she has no control over the party and the party men who abuse power.
Q/Did you set any condition to join the BJP?
A/No, I joined the BJP to protest the corruption in the Trinamool. I was surprised when I was nominated as the candidate in Singur within a few days of joining.
Q/The BJP is in favour of industries. You drove out Tata from Singur.
A/Singur needs industrialisation today. I believe Tata should come back to Singur. My fight was not against Tata. It was against the left front government and the way it throttled the rights of farmers.
Q/Hundreds of acres have been lying fallow since Tata was driven out.
A/That is the failure of the Trinamool government. There was no initiative to reuse the land. Mamata tried, but party men let her down.
Q/You were shifted to three different departments when you were minister.
A/That is because I saw corruption. I wanted to point that out. But, thinking that heads will roll, the chief minister shifted me to different ministries.
Q/You mean Mamata is corrupt?
A/Well, I will not say that she is very honest. But I can say that she always wanted people’s welfare.
Q/What was the level of corruption? Who were the people involved?
A/Please don’t ask me that. I have taken an oath of secrecy regarding cabinet meetings. I can only say that the party is deeply corrupt and that Mamata has no control over it.
Q/What will be the poll result?
A/I will not make any comment about the rest of the state. But as regards Singur, I can say that the Trinamool will lose.