Sharing his views on several issues in the run up to the Lok Sabha election, Deepak Prakash, Jharkhand BJP State president, says the Opposition meet of June 23 in Patna is a “get-together of corrupt leaders and corrupt parties”. Mr. Prakash calls Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as “Mungeri Lal” [daydreamer]. He also points out that if BJP comes to power in Jharkhand, it will resolve all the contentious issues of the State including the new recruitment policy. Edited excerpts.
In the run up to the Lok Sabha election, how is the Jharkhand BJP preparing?
We see the magic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s work in Jharkhand and we have made all the calculations according to its population which is around 3.5 crore. There are 65 lakh households and there is at least one person in every house who benefits from the work of Modiji directly or indirectly. Vaccination drive, Ujjwala Yojana [LPG scheme], Awas Yojana [affordable housing], free food grains, toilet scheme, construction of roads and many other developmental projects have improved the living condition and standard of people of Jharkhand. Even in rural areas a lot of developmental work has been done by Modiji and people are praising his work. Inclusive growth has taken place. Tribals and Dalits have received maximum benefits. We are 100% confident that during the Lok Sabha election people will remember the work done by Modiji and once again make him Prime Minister.
Why is BJP only dependent on Mr. Modi’s face? Don’t you have any other face in the party? The Opposition says BJP uses the face of Mr. Modi even during municipal elections. Is there a leadership crisis in BJP?
We are proud to say that BJP at least has one face in the party, that is Modiji. Who is the face of Opposition? BJP has a leader who is not only popular in India but abroad as well. He is an international leader with extraordinary leadership quality. He is the most popular leader of the world but I am sorry to say that the Opposition does not have a single face. The Opposition should first find at least one leader before raising questions on our leadership.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren says he will seek vote based on his work whereas it has been alleged that BJP indulges in communal and divisive politics?
Mr. Soren runs an anti-developmental government and not a single work has been started by the alliance government of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). All the projects for which the Soren government takes credit were actually started during the BJP regime. Mr. Soren is just cutting ribbons of the projects sanctioned and completed during the time of Raghubar Dasji. Be it the inauguration of the Jharkhand High Court, Cancer Hospital, new Vidhan Sabha building and many more projects, they were actually started by our government, not JMM. Before the Assembly election, Mr. Soren had promised to provide 5 lakh government jobs. In the last Assembly session, the government replied in Question Hour that only 568 jobs have been given. Allegations that BJP is involved in communal and divisive politics are baseless. Whenever BJP has been in power in the State no communal riots have taken place but under non-BJP governments, communal tension has always erupted. Whenever riots happen, the Soren government does not take any action to fulfil its agenda of appeasement. Even during this year’s Ram Navami processions, communal riots took place in Jharkhand and Bihar as well.
If BJP comes to power in Jharkhand, how will you deal with the proposed new recruitment policy against which continuous protests are taking place across the State.
The proposed 60:40 recruitment policy, under which 60% of jobs is reserved for local residents and 40% is open to all, is a big mistake of Soren-led government. Local youth have raised their voice against the government and the policy. I must say that the politics of appeasement has spoiled the State and this new recruitment policy is one aspect of it. The government has introduced a holiday on Friday and ‘love-jihad’ is another issue apart from infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals in the state. Tribals are the most affected. If BJP comes to power, we will tackle the issue of recruitment policy amicably by taking the consensus of people. Mr. Soren has also failed to implement a local policy based on the land survey record of 1932, known as the ‘1932 Khatiyan’.
Is it true that senior leaders of the BJP are being sidelined?
As State president, I am getting all possible support from all three former Chief Ministers of the State. Be it Babulal Marandi, Arjun Munda or Raghubar Das, they all support me and there is a friendly environment. Such claims are invented by the media and the Opposition. There is collective leadership in Jharkhand BJP and all decisions are taken collectively. There is no dispute between party leaders and workers.
Will Mr. Marandi be the chief ministerial face of BJP in Jharkhand in the next Assembly election?
I am not the one to comment on this topic. The decision would be taken by the central leadership.
What would be the seat-sharing formula for the upcoming Lok Sabha election?
Again, this decision would be taken by the central leadership but yes, we have AJSU (All Jharkhand Student Union) as our alliance partner and in 2019 we won 12 seats and in 2024, our alliance will win all 14 Lok Sabha seats. Previous record and winning capability of the candidates would be parameters of seat sharing.
An Opposition meet is scheduled in Patna on June 23 and its main agenda is to stop Mr. Modi from coming back to power in 2024.
It is a get-together of all corrupt people in Patna. This meeting would be attended by corrupt parties and its corrupt leaders. It is very unfortunate that Nitish Kumar who had once fought against Congress in 1975 and against the ‘Jungle Raj’ and corruption of Lalu Prasad has become the convener of the Opposition meet. The identity of Mr. Kumar, which is anti-Congress, anti-corruption and pro-development, does not exist anymore. Mr. Kumar has become irrelevant in national as well as State politics. He will neither remain the Chief Minister nor will he become Prime Minister. He is dreaming like Mungeri Lal whose dream never comes true.
