BJP believes in public service and performance: Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Election campaign in Karnataka has reached a feverish pitch and all eyes are now on the single-phase polling on May 10.

While the opinion polls have shown mixed results, the pollsters maintain that it is a tough election to take a call. While BJP was lagging at the initial stage, the analysts say that the massive rallies by Prime Minister Narendra Modi could have changed the fortunes of the party.

In an exclusive chat with this correspondent, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and senior BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar, discussed the issues at hand threadbare. He asserted that the BJP is heading towards a historic decisive majority in Karnataka this time too. Excerpts:

What is your assessment of the elections so far?

I think it is clear that BJP is heading towards an historic decisive majority and voters are responding to PM Narendra Modi's call for 'Ee baari nirdhara, Bahumata BJP Sarkara'. Our campaign, both at the direct voter interaction level, media and social media is really doing well and is seeing tremendous response from people across the State. I have worked in 2018 elections also and this time also have the privilege of working with my party's leaders and 'karyakartas', and I can safely say this - that the atmosphere in our party is a determined one, i.e. to ensure Karnataka's development continues unhindered.

What is the key aspect of the BJP campaign. It is very rare for Karnataka voters to repeat a government.

Our central focus is what our PM always says - public service and performance. PM Modi has ushered in a new political culture of performance and delivery over the last 9 years in India and last 3 and half years in Karnataka. Today, people all over India and Karnataka want governments and leaders they can trust to serve them - to perform and to deliver; to help them build a better future. That is BJP. Our report card of performance of last 3 and half years, the speed of our work and our resolute fight to change the culture of corruption is our report card and basis of our pro-incumbency campaign. More than anyone else, PM Modi represents these values and is leading from the front.

People of Karnataka have rarely repeated governments because in the last 65 years, it has been Congress or JDS or both. Both these parties have given no reason whatsoever to be repeated. People earlier had no choice but today, they have PM Modi and BJP.

Congress is also running a tough and highly visible campaign. Your thoughts on it?

There are many leaders in Congress that certainly have popular support. But as a party, Congress is increasingly irrelevant to the discourse about the future of India or Karnataka. Their politics is the same 65-year old one and, despite having leadership of the most recent member of the dynasty, continues to be stuck in the 70s and 80s type of politics. Some one seems to have advised them that it is very clever to be campaign using lies, fake guarantees and appeasement; and they are doing that. It is astonishing that country's oldest party is reduced to trotting out patent lies every days, hoping that they can mislead the voters. The list of lies is long and it seems to be a strategy that Congress from top to bottom - Rahul, DK and Siddaramaiah - all seem heavily over-invested in it. It's laughable and shameless both to hear them lying every day, insulting the intelligence of the people of the State. In addition to their lies, their campaign strategy has two other pillars - fake guarantees and appeasement. Both are doomed to fail because this is Karnataka 2023 and not the old Karnataka when old Congress shenanigans worked.

The Congress manifesto promises a ban on Bajrang Dal and vows to reverse many decisions of the BJP government. Your thoughts on the same?

Congress knows very well that the people don't trust them, leave apart to ever vote them to form a government. So, the manifesto is meaningless and you can see the public response to that document. But certainly their manifesto gives people an insight into their political thinking. In a nutshell, politics for the Congress is a game - it's a power grabbing attempt; and they will say, do and promise anything to get the keys of the Exchequer. I have said repeatedly that Congress is no longer a political party, it's more of a collection of private interests masquerading as a political party.

Amit Shah coined the phrase for Congress - ''Reverse gear party''. It has no concern for anything but money and appeasing its vote banks like PFI and SDPI. The ban on Bajrang Dal is nothing but playing to their vote bank regardless of how wrong it is to equate it with a terror organisation like this. Promise of persisting with unconstitutional Muslim reservation is yet another shameless appeasement politics. Why no mention of Christians, Sikhs, Jains and other minorities? Congress never did anything for Kashmiri Pandits who are minorities in J&K. Congress is a very very strange party that always reeks of hypocrisy and doublespeak. Always politics and opportunism and never people or development.

Take, for example, their interest in withdrawing National Education Policy. NEP is the biggest reform that has been taken up for young Indians since Independence. It empowers and prepares young Kannadigas for all the opportunities that are coming up now and in future. Under the Congress, 3 out every 4 Kannadiga in workforce was unskilled. NEP makes sure no youth leaves school without skills. It enables children to study and grow in their own mother tongue. Congress wants to deny young Kannadigas a bright future as long as they appease their vote bank. It is a very destructive party.

Our politics is a sharp contrast from this Congress politics. 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' is core to our PM's governance. Equitable opportunities to all without any discrimination to any one regardless of caste, religion, gender or region. Our politics is about performance and speed of double development.

What are your thoughts on PM's visit to Bengaluru?

We are all proud to welcome our PM to our Bengaluru. He was here for two days and campaigned for all our candidates. He loves Bengaluru as a city and the Bengalureans. Bengaluru is a global city and also our State's proud capital. It represents the future of our country as well represents our deep culture and heritage as Kannadigas. PM Modi has a clear vision to make Bengaluru a modern global city which is also home to lakhs of people who study, live and work here. As a State capital region, Bengaluru has a bright future if we can elect all BJP candidates from the city and show the door to so many of these Congress MLAs, who have for years squatted on their constituencies with no development and only allowed vested interests to exploit our city. The two-day road show of PM Modi saw more than 10 lakh people who came to see him and bless him.

Will JDS play a key role in these elections?

People of Karnataka are tired of instability and how coalition politics only help in making the corrupt and the vested interests happy and exploit our State. This time, they have seen 'BJP Double Engine Sarkara' at work and want 5 more years of the same - stable and double-speed development and improved lives.

Your comments on the remarks by Kharge and his son?

I am surprised to see how even a senior leader like Kharge has been drawn into this ''abuse PM'' strategy of the top to bottom of the Congress party. Our PM is determined to clean up India's politics and build a better politics for our future generations. All the corrupts and vested-interests are threatened by our PMs strength, resolve and determination. The list of people who abuse our PM range from Congress crooks to terror States in our neighbourhood. Our PM shrugs off all these insults and works harder.

Congress has advertised corruption rate card and talked of 40 per cent commission and guarantee cards. Your views?

For the Congress to talk about corruption is biggest joke on the planet. Their leadership is the poster boy of political corruption and are trying hard to float this 40 per ent commission canard to distract from their long illustrious careers of exploitation and corruption.

As I said, Congress is reduced to a political strategy of lies, fake guarantees and appeasement. They had 65 years of opportunity in government but instead of serving the people, they exploited them. If they would have done good work and served people well, they would not have had to resort to lies, fake guarantees and appeasement in their politics.

Congress and JDS represent old style crooked politics - they want to take Karnataka backwards in reverse gear whereas BJP is a party that wants to take Karnataka forward.