Congress president Rahul Gandhi has said religion is central to India and “as a political leader”, he will visit any centre of belief as long they don’t divide communities.
In an exclusive interview with The Hindu, Mr. Gandhi denied that his frequent visits to temples and mutts in Karnataka were an attempt at image correction. “No, there is no image correction. But whenever I enter a temple, it deeply disturbs the BJP because they seem to think they own them [temples],” he said.
Across religions
“In your question, you didn’t say that I also visit churches, mosques and gurdwaras. Religion is a central part of our country. And as a political leader, anybody who invites me to a centre of belief, I will go as long as they treat people with respect and compassion,” he said.
Mr. Gandhi’s articulation seems to reflect the Congress’s effort to take a nuanced position on the question of religion in politics. Increasingly words like ‘secularism’ are being replaced in the Congress lexicon with phrases like “peace and love among communities.”
No anti-incumbency
Asked about the prospects of his party in the May 12 Karnataka Assembly elections, he claimed that the party would win Karnataka ‘hands down’ as there was no sense of anti-incumbency against the Siddaramaiah government. He also countered Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 10% jibe at Mr. Siddaramaiah by pointing out that while Mr. Yeddyurappa had spent time in jail, there were no scams and charges of corruption against the Chief Minister.
Excerpts from the interview:
What is the main issue for the Congress in Karnataka?
The main issue is carrying everybody together, making sure development goes to the needy ... the weak, and government resources go to the people it belongs to instead of being siphoned off like they were during the BJP regime. Corruption is a big issue here — corruption of the BJP and Mr. Yeddyurappa, the Reddy brothers and ₹35,000 crore stolen from the people of Karnataka. And then the assault on Karnataka by the BJP/RSS and a centralising one-view vision of India is unacceptable. People of Karnataka feel that they have their own language, they have their own culture and they don’t want to be run by the RSS.
This is the only southern State the BJP has ruled. Do you feel BJP is trying to impose a one-nation-one-culture norm?
The BJP design is that of submission. So the BJP goes pretty much into every conversation and State with the idea that they are going to impose one view and capture institutions.
You have done about nine rounds of the Jan Ashirwad Yatra. What is your expectation in terms of seats?
I am not a soothsayer and don’t get into seat predictions. But I can say that we are going to win this election.
The reason I asked this is because many independent channels have predicted a hung Assembly
That is the narrative the BJP is trying to spread. The fact of the matter is there is consolidation behind the Congress and our Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, the respect for the work he has done for the past five years. And there is a tremendous emotional response. So we are very much confident that we are going to win hands down.
Of course, the BJP would like to create such a narrative. Independent channels in Gujarat gave us 20-30 seats. So, I am not a believer of the so-called independent channels. I think we are very strong.
Fair point. But if it comes to that (hung Assembly), will the Janata Dal(Secular) be the kingmaker?
No. It will not come to that.
Wherever there is a hung verdict, Congress has not been able to form a government. Does that prospect worry you in Karnataka?
My view about Karnataka elections is that I can’t sense any anti-incumbency against the Siddaramaiah government. Second, there is a clear feeling among the people of Karnataka that a choice between Mr. B.S. Yeddyurappa and Mr. Siddaramaiah is no choice. It’s so one-sided that an even comparison does not hold. Mr. Siddarmaiah ji is head and shoulders above what the BJP has.
Do you think Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to make this a Siddaramaiah vs Modi battle?
Mr. Modi’s political style is to divide and create anger. And he does that in every election. The closer he comes to the election, the harder he tries to do that. It will not work in Karnataka. If you see Mr. Modi’s campaign, he can’t talk about corruption, right? He tried, it doesn’t work. His own people said the Karnataka model is the best model. BJP president Amit Shah said Mr. Yeddyurappa’s government was most corrupt. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said Karnataka has the best roads. Narendra Modi himself said Karnataka has got the most exemplary record in job creation. He has nothing to say and then he attacks me personally, attacks Mr. Siddaramaiah personally, attacks Mallikarjun Kharge personally; that’s his style. It’s a style of distracting.
You have talked about corruption and candidates with criminal charges. Similar charges are levelled by the Prime Minister against the Siddaramaiah government by calling it a 10% government.
The fact of the matter is Mr. Yeddyurappa has spent time in jail. The fact of the matter is the Reddy brothers have stolen ₹35,000 crore in the mining scam. Mr. Narendra Modi is promoting these people. Look at our last five years — there has been no scam, no charges of corruption. Mr. Modi comes and speaks about corruption, and on his left and right side, there is the whole tainted team. He speaks of divisive politics and everybody knows what Mr. Modi is doing over his whole career. His words ring quite hollow. The Prime Minister of India basically promised four things: two crore jobs per year, but his own government acknowledges an eight-year high in unemployment; he assured correct prices to farmers — you will see in the expression of India’s farmers how successful he has been! He spoke about corruption, you can see Mr. Amit Shah’s son has turned ₹50,000 into ₹80 crore. You can see Mr. Piyush Goyal sold his own company to a power company, the Rajasthan CM’s son had been given money by Lalit Modi. There is the GSPC scam of Gujarat to answer. So Modi can’t speak on corruption.
Finally, the PM spoke about robust foreign policy. He has just visited China, but didn’t say a word about Doklam. Instead of lecturing Mr. Siddaramaiah, the PM should explain what he has done on all these fronts.
You tweeted about the BJP’s casteist attitude, but the Siddaramaiah government is accused of playing the caste card by recommending that Lingayats be granted a separate religious minority status...
There is a difference between giving voice to a community and crushing a community. There is a difference between listening to the legitimate demands of a community and beating and killing Dalits.
What the BJP does is systematically crush a community! You see what the BJP is doing with Dalits across the nation, you can see with Rohit Vemula, you can see in Una, in every single BJP-ruled State, Dalits are being beaten up, butchered and bashed and the Prime Minister doesn’t say a word. You know the status of minorities across country.
As in Gujarat, you continue to visit temples and maths here as well. Is this an image correction because there is a certain perception about the Congress?
In your question, you didn’t say that I also visit churches, mosques and gurdwaras. Religion is a central part of our country. And as a political leader, anybody who invites me to a centre of belief, I will go, as long as they treat people with respect and compassion. I will not go to places which spread hatred, violence and divide community.
Let me make it very clear, I have been visiting temples, mosques, gurdwaras throughout my career. Whenever a yatra or political procession passes by a religious place and someone invites me, I go. No, there is no image correction. But whenever I enter a temple, it deeply disturbs the BJP because they seem to think they own them [temples].
Election campaigns are presidential in style: Mr. Siddaramaiah versus Mr. Yeddyruppa in Karnataka. But the Congress usually doesn’t project anyone. Isn’t it time to change?
Who did the BJP project in Haryana? Who did they project in U.P.? Who did they project in Punjab? Every State has its own specific nature. If you look at Karnataka, Siddaramaiah ji has been CM for five years; he is a tall leader and naturally, the conversation will be about him. Also don’t underestimate the value of our other leaders in Karnataka. The Congress has a solid leadership in every community of Karnataka, and they are all fighting together. This election will be won by the entire Congress.
You talk of women power but why has the Congress given ticket only to 15 women out of the 224 seats?
We have given nearly three times more than the BJP, but I don’t want to compare ourselves with others. We should have given more ticket to women and I think that is the direction that we are going ahead for other elections. And there is not enough participation of women at the MLA and MP levels.
How important will the outcome of the Karnataka polls be for the Congress’s 2019 battle?
The Congress as a political organisation is a set of values, set of ideas. Ideas of mutual respect, ideas of empowerment, equality, of bringing all communities together.
The BJP is diametrically opposed to these ideas. Only force that can take on and defeat the BJP is the Congress. This is a battle of ideas. What we are fighting is the ideology of hatred and anger and most Indian people are peace-loving. We are pretty confident that we will defeat the BJP.
