Is it true that you played a key role in influencing your party’s decision to return to the National Democratic Alliance, 12 years after the Lok Janshakti Party had left it in the wake of the Gujarat violence in 2002 on Narendra Modi’s watch?
I will not shy away from admitting that I have been biased toward the Bharatiya Janata Party for a long time. I had a sense about two years ago that the mood in the nation had begun favouring the BJP, particularly Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. I used to have arguments with my father on the alliance issue over this period. He used to argue for the Congress-led UPA and I held the contrary views. In the end, he accepted my thinking that the LJP should ally with the BJP.
What were your arguments?
It is well known that the youth form half the country’s population. They have aspirations for a better life. They want jobs and other opportunities. Mr Modi came on the scene with the politics of development and he touched a chord in the youth. It was a unanimous decision of our party to join NDA.
Even Muslim party workers were keen to see the new alliance take off.
Why did you choose the Jamui Lok Sabha seat to make your electoral debut?
Jamui is the least developed district in Bihar. It’s at the bottom of all the 42 districts on all developmental parameters. I want to work for the development of the people. That’s why I chose Jamui. I have entered into politics with an honest mindset.
Mr Modi’s critics accuse him of not doing enough to stop the post-Godhra riots in 2002. Where does that leave your party’s secularism plank?
Secularism is an ideology. We will always stand by it. By joining hands with the BJP, we have by no means compromised our secular credentials. My father felt an injustice was done to the Muslims in 2002. That is why he quit the Atal Behari Vajpayee Cabinet. Our alliance with the BJP is issue based.
A lot of compromises are made in alliance politics, but we will not compromise on the issue of secularism at any cost.Mr Modi is not spearheading any communal agenda. He is reaching out to people on the plank of development.
Why could your party not strike an alliance with the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal?
The number of seats you contest matter a lot. There are a number of senior leaders in our party who want to fight elections. What the Congress and the RJD were offering was not acceptable. Obviously, there was anguish in the party on that count.
When your father had lost even the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat, from where he had once won by a record margin, it was RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav who sent Mr Paswan to the Rajya Sabha. Even in the Assembly polls, the RJD gave enough seats to your party. In the light of this, isn’t it betrayal that you should move away from the RJD?
What they (RJD) had done to us in the 2009 elections was much worse than the positives you point to. By sending my father to the Rajya Sabha, the RJD was just making amends for what it did in the Lok Sabha election of 2009. The kind of loss our party suffered in the 2009 polls had a lot to do with their behaviour.
Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party bagged the dalit vote in the Delhi Assembly election. The party is set to make a debut in Bihar and has already got former state minister Praveen Amanullah on its side. Will the AAP dent your support base in the state?
The AAP is a totally unconventional party. In the very few days its leaders spent being in government, they showed they are anarchist in nature. We cannot afford to live in a state of anarchy. It will be a huge loss to the nation. Communication is a great tool to sort out any issue, but this party is averse even to that. I am sure people will think twice before casting their vote for the AAP.
Will you campaign for NDA candidates?
No. I will largely spend my time in the Jamui constituency and a few other places. But my father will campaign for BJP candidates also. The BJP chief, Rajnath Singh, has spoken to him and he would be addressing some rallies which will be addressed by Mr Modi. My father may campaign even outside Bihar.
