Union Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal, co-incharge for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign in Karnataka, spoke on the party’s campaign, a separate flag for the State, and the demands by sections of the Lingayat community for minority status. Excerpts:
The Congress and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah are running the campaign closely aligned to Kannada pride, including a separate flag for the State. How do you propose to counteract the powerful appeal of such a campaign?
The people of Karnataka understand that this (a separate flag for the State) is an election ploy. Just on the eve of polls he (Chief Minister Siddaramaiah) has come up with such diversionary tactics. My own sense is that having seen the maturity of the Indian electorate, these type of things normally backfire, they don’t help anybody and this will backfire on Siddaramaiahji as well. The country by and large has voted to maintain the integrity of the nation and I don’t think anybody would like to divide the nation, as such tendencies as Mr. Siddaramaiah is showing seem to suggest.
The Lingayat community, a strong base of support for your party, has been demanding the status of a minority community. What is the BJP’s view on the issue?
I don’t think it is a demand by the Lingayat community but a few Congressmen who want to fan this thought. I would not imagine that the entire Lingayat community believes that way, they are a community with a lot of pride and, to my mind, they stand fully behind Mr. Yeddyurappa as the BJP nominee for Chief Minister and their support for Mr. Yeddyurappa has been long standing. I don’t think that the community is demanding this as a whole.
There is a report that has been forwarded to the Centre.
Like that there are many reports that keep coming from various States, but by and large such matters have been settled by the Supreme Court.
I don’t think anybody has an option but to go by the Supreme Court guidelines in this matter.
How do you look at the prospects of the Janata Dal (S) and its recent alliance with the BSP and the NCP.
I don’t think the BSP and the NCP have any great significance in Karnataka. The fight is largely going to be a fight between the Congress and the BJP, barring a few pockets where we will be fighting against the JD(S). The good part is that the BJP is spread across Karnataka and we have relevance in almost every seat, we would be either number one or number two, the JD(S) will be competing with us only in a few seats, but largely we will be fighting with the Congress.
The BJP has, in the past, been in a coalition government with the JD(S). In a post-poll scenario with a hung verdict are you open to another coalition?
We don’t see that possibility, we are confident of an absolute majority.
Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde and several other leaders have made communally polarising statements during the campaign. As in-charge for elections in the State, what do you have to say?
I think, first of all, nobody has made polarising comments from the BJP, they have been taken out of context. If at all any such comments have been made that have not been appreciated in its entirety, the concerned person has clarified on those comments. We believe in an inclusive society, sabka saath sabka vikas , we do not subscribe to any polarisation within the country or any State, we are very confident that all sections of population in Karnataka have supported us in the past and after the dismal performance of the Siddaramaiah government we are clearly looking at a change of government in the State.
As Railway Minister what would you like to say on the railway infrastructure in Karnataka, and what can be expected in the future?
The railway infrastructure in Karnataka is undergoing a metamorphical change, if you see pure statistics, on almost every front, there have been a lot of investment in the State. The increase has been almost three times compared to earlier. Across the State, there have been improvements. Most importantly, the Bengaluru suburban network that we have decided to go ahead is a landmark decision that will change the way people commute in Bengaluru. The demand has been around for decades now, the Railway Ministers in the previous governments did not do anything about it, it’s only when Sadananda Gowda became Railway Minister that he started that process, and I had the good fortune to take it forward.
