Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday reiterated the Bharatiya Janata Party’s 370 plus seats claim for Lok Sabha Elections 2024. In an exclusive interview with Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, Singh said that the party was well on its way to winning 370 seats this election and that the NDA will win more than 400 seats.
Singh spoke on a range of issues from CAA to Uniform Civil Code and India’s fight against terrorism during the interview. Here’s the full transcript of the interview with Rajnath Singh:
Q: Rajnath ji, first of all thank you very much for giving this exclusive interview to Network 18. Through our medium, you will be seen on 20 channels across the country. We are present in 15 languages across the country. My first question, since you are also the Chairman of the Manifesto Committee, I thought let’s start with a larger question. If we look at the achievements of the Modi government, you have done a lot of work. You repealed Article 370, brought CAA, 33% women reservation also came, the biggest thing was the foundation stone of Ram Temple that happened on January 22 this year. All this was about your achievements in the past. What are the biggest things that you will bring in your manifesto?
Rajnath Singh: The manifesto is very important for us, because I believe that any political party that makes promises to the public in the manifesto, should fulfill those promises to the letter. Due to the difference in the actions and statements, words and deeds, saying and doing of leaders and political parties, the trust of the public on the politics of India and the leaders of India has diminished somewhere. This sign of trust has now arisen, Bharatiya Janata Party, a leading political party of India, has accepted this sign of trust in the politics of India as a permanent symbol. You must have seen that whatever we have said in the election manifesto before this, whether in 2014 or 2019, we have followed it to the letter, and this time also, I want to assure the country through you, Rahul ji, that this time also, whatever we will say in the manifesto, we will follow it.
Q: This time there has been a lot of discussion about One Nation, One Poll. So will this be in the manifesto? Is our country moving towards One Nation, One Poll in 2029? I also want to know your personal opinion on the manifesto.
Rajnath Singh: My personal opinion is that this should happen, there should be One Nation, One Poll. It will also reduce expenses, it will save time, there are many things. I think that such ideas have been expressed earlier also by many scholars from time to time.
Q: What is the timeline? We were hearing that perhaps the elections that will be held after 2027-28, they will get an extension, the ones before that will be held again, but again, all the elections will be held in 2029.
Rajnath Singh: I would not like to say anything about the timing, but if you ask me about my personal wish, I would like for it to happen as soon as possible, whenever our preparations are complete, we should start this process of one nation, one election. You also asked about the manifesto, so election manifesto. I will not be able to tell you at this time about what will be there and what won’t because generally it has been a practice that when election manifesto is being prepared, we do not make public the issues in it. When it is released, at that time the country comes to know about it.
Q: You have been talking about the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) since a long time. This time you have implemented it in Uttarakhand. So if Modi ji’s third term comes, will you roll out Uniform Civil Code nationally? What will you do now?
Rajnath Singh: I have already said that apart from the manifesto, it is our commitment that we want that Uniform Civil Code should be implemented, this is our belief since long. Many people from the opposition side unnecessarily try to raise this issue on the basis of caste, sect or religion.
Q: The opposition questions that do the Muslims not have any right to live according to Sharia and Hadith?
Rajnath Singh: No, no. Everyone should live their life according to their own will. I think nobody should have any objection with the introduction of Uniform Civil Code. And nobody’s faith, belief, or traditions will be harmed by it.
Q: CAA was first introduced when you were the home minister. It was also passed. After that, you brought it back again. This time, when we are talking about CAA, when the rules have been notified, there were a lot of protests against it in the country and abroad. This time, nothing much happened. Do you think that people are now understanding this and that you will be able to take it forward?
Rajnath Singh: I think the biggest sign is with the opposition. They have a dearth of issues and they do not have such agenda items to assure the public that if their government is formed, they will do this. And it is also a sign of distrust among the public about all those political parties. People do not even trust their words. Now the opposition has tried to create various kinds of misconceptions about this, but I can say with confidence that no one’s citizenship is going to be terminated due to this Citizenship Amendment Act.
Q: Yesterday Mamata Banerjee said that people will not be able to vote when this happens and after that DMK also said that we will not let this happen.
Rajnath Singh: People should not be misled in this way in a healthy democracy. And I think Mamata ji will also be aware of the fact that this citizenship law means no one’s citizenship is going to be terminated.
Q: If we look at it chronologically, then after CAA, National Register of Citizens (NRC) should also come?
Rajnath Singh: What is wrong in this? Why should anyone have an objection to the register of those who are citizens of India? An attempt is being made to create a misconception that if someone is not of Indian race and is a Muslim and wants to get Indian citizenship under some special circumstances, then he will not get citizenship. I have already said that we are not the people who do politics of caste, creed and religion. If there are such special circumstances and if someone wants to take Indian citizenship, then our government can consider that too and I myself have given citizenship to Adnan Sami even at the time when this bill was being prepared.
Q: But there are no Muslims in CAA, citizenship will not be given?
Rajnath Singh: That will depend on the situation.
Q: NRC would come in this term?
Rajnath Singh: There should be no fear of NRC. There is unnecessary panic being created among the people. I believe that the opposition should stay away from spreading rumours or misinformation. The opposition should not fool the public. Opposition should have the guts to face the public and not fool them.
Q: You fulfilled your ‘Mandir vahiin banaenge’promise. There was also the slogan of ‘Äbhi to ye jhaanki hai, Mathura, Kashi baaki hai’. How do you view this? Will work be taken forward on this in the next term?
Rajnath Singh: We did what was in the election manifesto.
Q: Will this be part of election manifesto? I would also like to know your personal opinion on this.
Rajnath Singh: The matter is subjudice. I think the decision should be awaited.
Q: You’ll move forward accordingly. While Kashi and Mathura are there, how long will this continue? At how many places will we build temples? Mohan Bhagwat said that after Kashi and Mathura, Hindus should think about how to look at the future. In a secular country, we have to live in peace, what is your opinion on this?
Rajnath Singh: There is no doubt that India is a secular nation, nobody should have any objection on this. But I would not like to say anything about Kashi, Mathura at this time because the matter is pending in the court.
Q: Elections are heating up, let’s talk about elections a little bit. 370 is a very bold target. An increase of about 20-25 per cent from 303. How do you see it? From where will the seats come?
Rajnath Singh: I am very confident that the Bharatiya Janata Party will win 370 seats. There is no doubt that the Bharatiya Janata Party will win 370 seats. We are completely confident that the NDA will win cross 400 seats. This is a very big number and we are saying this because of the way the BJP, NDA and our Prime Minister Modi ji have received people’s trust, we are completely confident that the Bharatiya Janata Party will get 370 seats and the NDA will get more than 400 seats.
Q: This is not just because of the Ram Mandir issue, there are other things as well.
Rajnath Singh: I have faith in our party. The credibility of the government led by us is the biggest thing. Because of this, we are getting people’s support.
Q: Rajnath ji, I want to take this question further. The Opposition says that you are using special agencies like ED and CBI only against them. You have even sent two chief ministers behind bars.
Rajnath Singh: The opposition’s claim is completely beyond facts and completely baseless. The agencies are doing their work. We want to root out the corruption. If not, we want to find a way out. This is our concern and for this, the agencies are doing their work. The opposition feels agencies are doing wrong work. They are also going to the court regarding this. So, why are they not getting the relief that they should get from the court? Will you say that we have influenced court? One should not try to make such baseless and unfounded allegations. One should also look at one’s own side of the story.
Q: People are saying that the opposition was unable to come together in a united manner, but on this issue they have come together and recently a huge rally was also held.
Rajnath Singh: What kind of rally was this?
Q: It’s being said that this has united the Opposition.
Rajnath Singh: No, no, they are also not coming together.
Q: Even now, you feel that they are not able to come together. What will be its effect on the elections? Do you feel that these parties…
Rajnath Singh: We want that in a healthy democratic system, there should be an effective opposition with a positive mindset. But this opposition is not able to fulfill its role. They are supposed to play an effective role, they are not able to do it, they are responsible for this, the responsibility for this should not be fixed on us.
Q: Regarding the arrest of chief ministers, regarding the arrest of Kejriwal, the United Nations has also said that elections in the country should be free and fair. What is your opinion on whether elections in our country are free and fair?
Rajnath Singh: Who is the United Nations to tell us that? Were there no free and fair elections earlier – in 2019, in 2014? I say that there were free and fair elections before that as well. Where did this come from? Let’s assume that the agencies wrongly arrested the chief minister, deputy chief minister, then why are they not getting relief from the court? Why are they not granted bail by the court, why are they not released by the court?
Q: Many leaders have been behind bars for a long time…
Rajnath Singh: Rahul ji, you tell us what should we do? What should our government do? Whatever allegations have been made against them, should we say that all the allegations are baseless? We are building up pressure on the agencies? What should we do?
Q: They are saying that the timing is such that more and more action is being taken before the elections. Why was there such a hurry? They could have waited for a few days till the elections.
Rajnath Singh: So people should get relief from the court. If the agencies have made wrong allegations, then they should get relief from court, but they are not getting any relief.
Q: Many leaders haven’t gotten it, Sanjay Singh has got relief after 6 months. ED has withdrawn its case, do you think that this will give some boost to the Opposition, everyone will come together and create a ruckus again?
Rajnath Singh: We do not have that much time to analyse everything, what boost will they get from this, how much strength will they get. At this time, on the basis of positive thinking, we are making our union completely strong, and on that basis, we want to achieve our goal.
Q: Rajnath ji, there is a question related to this. Opposition believes that when the leaders who were earlier in the Congress or some other party changed their party and joined the BJP, the cases against such leaders were dropped. In fact, a newspaper had recently published a big report, they said that out of the twenty-five people who joined the BJP, the cases against 23 people have either been put on hold or have been dropped.
Rajnath Singh: It may have been done in some cases that a closure report may have been filed.
Q: But you are saying that if the big leaders join you, all their cases will remain open.
Rajnath Singh: Agencies will be doing their work. We won’t put any pressure on them.
Q: Rahul Gandhi and Opposition keep talking about whitewashing.
Rajnath Singh: Look, Rahul Gandhi should understand the truth. Their governments have also been there before. In independent India, there is hardly any Congress government against which there was no corruption charge. There have been governments in which ministers have had to go to jail because of corruption charges against them. But ten years have passed and our government, under the leadership of Modi ji, no one has been able to level a single allegation against our government. So the biggest difference between their governments and ours is this.
Q: Rajnath ji, another hot issue before these elections is the issue of Electoral Bonds, which the Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional. So I want to know your personal opinion that when you introduced this, what was your thinking behind doing it, will this bring more black money into circulation, and in the coming times when your government comes to power, is this a bad thing?
Rajnath Singh: Rahul, ji, was there any harm in knowing who donated to which party?
Q: No, when you introduced it, it was decided that the name of the donor will not come out, today the name of the donor has come out. Will there be more cash generation now?
Rajnath Singh: The future will tell what will happen now. Time will tell how right we were by bringing electoral bonds.
Q: What is your personal thought? You had said that you had tried to put in place a transparent process to the extent possible, for the black money issue.
Rajnath Singh: This was also one of our thoughts. And the second thing is, tell me, I want to ask you, that which company has donated to which party should be disclosed. Tomorrow, they will say who voted for which party should also be made public. Will you accept this? Any country, where there is healthy democracy, will accept this? Who is giving their vote to which political party, to which person – should this also be disclosed?
Q: No, this will not be accepted, but this issue is a little different in the sense that. The opposition is saying that electoral bonds worth about Rs 4,000 crore were bought after the raids. Fourteen companies were raided, and electoral bonds were bought immediately after the raids. So this is a method which the opposition is calling extortion, Rahul Gandhi is calling it extortion, someone is saying it is a way of taking donations, although he also got it.
Rajnath Singh: I do not have any information, but you are saying. But did the cases stop because of these bonds?
Q: So these cases will continue?
Rajnath Singh: There are many such companies against which there are charges, but during elections they donate.
Q: So if there are cases against those who are donating, it is not that they will be dropped?
Rajnath Singh: Not at all. The agencies will keep doing their work.
Q: But is there a connection? That donations come after raids happen.
Rajnath Singh: It should not be seen from this angle. It has no connection with that.
Q: Moving away from this, let us come to other issues. The people in Bharatiya Janata Party always say that you are a party with a difference, you are different. As you said, you do what you promise and there’s credibility. Despite this, it is being seen that you have included many leaders from other parties in your party, you have attracted them. The track record of some people may not have been so good, there are some family-oriented parties in some states, which you have always been against, how do you see this, this exodus which is happening from Congress to BJP or the people who are joining BJP from other parties, how do you see this? Is there anger in your party workers due to this?
Rajnath Singh: There is no anger in our party. We have accepted it with great enthusiasm that the credibility of our party, the reputation of our party is great and other political parties and people are also eager to accept the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party, so this is really something that should be seen from a positive perspective.
Q: The party which is winning, the party which is in power, everyone wants to join it, but do you apply a filter that you will take this person, you will not take this person?
Rajnath Singh: It is not like that, we have also been working in the opposition for a long time and Congress was in power for a long time in this country, but we did not join Congress. These political parties should also be interrogated that why this is happening. They should do self-introspection, allegations should not be made just for the sake of allegations, there should be facts behind the allegations as well.
Q: Rajnath ji, another issue which has been there in the last four-five years is the issue of farmer agitation. First you brought a new law for the farmers, then you repealed that law. Recently again there have been protests. Are you not being able to present your point in front of them properly, are they not understanding what you are saying?
Rajnath Singh: The bills related to the farmers had to be withdrawn. We also felt that we had brought them for the benefit of farmers, it was in the interest of the farmers, but the way it should have been communicated to them, the way it should have reached them, it may not have reached them. It was very good for the farmers, but despite that it had to be removed. More time was needed so that we could explain it to the farmers and there was a dialogue with them. It was very good for the farmers, but despite that it had to be removed. But you never know, may be, in the future, the farmers themselves ask us to bring these bills back.
Q: So you keep talking to the farmers?
Rajnath Singh: You must have seen that three ministers went to Punjab to talk to them. They went there and talked for four hours. We do not want to break our dialogue with the farmers of this country.
Q: What do you want to say to the farmers of the country?
Rajnath Singh: I want to tell them that we want that they should be given the right price for their crops. This is the thinking of our government.
Q: The talk of doubling the farmer’s income will continue like that?
Rajnath Singh: Absolutely, it will be completed in the future. Whether they want to grow their crops, they require fertilizers, water, heat, medicines and they are not able to do this due to shortage of money, they are being given financial assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.
Q: You have a target of 370 for your party this election. You have high hopes from South India this time, you are saying that you will win a lot of seats from the south. Last time, out of 130 seats, you got 29 seats. 25 were from Karnataka and 4 from Telangana. How do you see this changing?
Rajnath Singh: In Karnataka, we will win all 28 seats.
Q: But you lost Vidhan Sabha elections in the state just a few months ago.
Rajnath Singh: There have been earlier examples of states where Congress won Assembly Elections, but we won more seats in the following Lok Sabha polls in the same states.
Q: You are giving yourself 28 out of 28 in Karnataka, but there is a lot of intra party fight and grievances going on in the state unit of the party. Despite that you are saying that you will win all the seats?
Rajnath Singh: There is no fight. This year we even have an alliance with the JDS. Our strength is bigger than before in Karnataka.
Q: In Tamil Nadu, Kerala, will your account be opened?
Rajnath Singh: Not only will the account be opened but we will win a good number of seats. We will do it in Tamil Nadu this time and after the results are out, we will meet again, Rahul ji.
Q: How many seats are you giving yourself in Tamil Nadu?
Rajnath Singh: I won’t talk about number of seats. But we will do fairly well.
Q: Will you open your account in Kerala also?
Rajnath Singh: Absolutely. This time there will be no state where we would not get a seat.
Q: So, if you look at the big picture, out of 130, how many seats do you see?
Rajnath Singh: See, I will not say in terms of number of seats, but we will also win a good number of seats, so that we can achieve our target of 370, and NDA’s target is to cross 400, we can achieve that target as well.
Q: Shall we move to the North? But before I come to the states, there is one more issue and that is the issue of the recent death of Mukhtar Ansari. His family is saying that he was poisoned, what is your opinion on this? What would you like to say?
Rajnath Singh: In this situation, I think that a magisterial inquiry was set up, its report will come, the matter will be cleared.
Q: But what do you believe?
Rajnath Singh: This cannot be possible under any circumstances. These are completely baseless and unfounded allegations.
Q: We saw one more thing before this, Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf, who were mafia dons, were killed by three people on camera. The opposition says that all these things show that these are state sponsored killings.
Rajnath Singh: All these gangs keep fighting among themselves. They keep killing each other, it’s nothing new.
Q: So this is not state sponsored or encounter killing?
Rajnath Singh: Not at all. You cannot even imagine this.
Q: So, you are not seeing such things in UP? Will this have any impact on the elections?
Rajnath Singh: I can say about UP that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ji is running the government there very well and the alert law and order system that UP has at present, has never been there before.
Q: Will all these things have any effect on the elections like polarisation?
Rajnath Singh: We don’t do polarisation politics. We believe in justice and humanity.
Q: Since we are talking about UP, I would like to know will you break the 2014 record – 71, BJP, 73, NDA?
Rajnath Singh: This time, it will be 80 out of 80.
Q: 80 out of 80? This means Amethi, Rae Bareli, Kannauj, Azamgarh, you’ll win all?
Rajnath Singh: Yes. Who used to contest elections from Rae Bareli? Sonia Gandhi has now come to Rajya Sabha, it’s clear why that happened.
Q: Robert Vadra is saying that he will contest from Amethi. He has expressed his wish.
Rajnath Singh: Whoever contests will have to face loss against the BJP. Because our candidate Smriti Irani has done a very good job there. Her performance has been good in her constituency as well as in the House. As a minister also, her performance has been very good.
Q: But you have been talking about nepotism and now Robert Vadra has also expressed his wish to come into politics, how do you see this, what would you like to say?
Rajnath Singh: He can if he wants to. What do we have to do in that? We don’t need to say anything. This is Congress’s decision, not ours.
Q: This time you have raised another issue just before the elections, that is the issue of Katchatheevu, that it was an island, which the Congress governments gave to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has just issued a statement that this is a fifty-year-old matter, why is it being raised today?
Rajnath Singh: But they did admit that this is a fifty-year-old matter, but it happened, so it is the truth.
Q: But why raise this before the election?
Rajnath Singh: Why would there ever be an objection on something that is true? Can anyone deny that what our Prime Minister has said about Katchatheevu is wrong, baseless? No, it did not happen today, it happened fifty years ago, but it did happen.
Q: But the opposition says that raising such things again and again, holding on to some issues, is being done to distract the public from the real issues. For example, China, which is saying that Arunachal Pradesh is their integral part, it has also given thirty names of its own within Arunachal Pradesh, so what will you say about this?
Rajnath Singh: The Opposition should self-introspect and not think about us. We are doing what is right.
Q: China’s military spoke earlier, their statements are still coming in. How do you see these statements?
Rajnath Singh: Arunachal Pradesh was a part of India, is a part of India and will always belong to India.
Q: And you will do whatever needs to be done for this?
Rajnath Singh: Absolutely.
Q: Rajnath ji, moving from China to Pakistan. Just yesterday, Guardian, a foreign publication, published an article in which it was said that India has killed 20 people, 20 individuals, terrorists in the last few years on Pakistani soil, went to their soil and killed them. This was earlier said about us in Canada, this discussion was also held earlier in the US. But this is a new discussion about Pakistan, 20 people. So how do you see this? In that article, it is also said that the India is influenced by KGB and Mossad. So, RAW is also working like this, some sleeper cell in UAE has helped and India has killed 20 terrorists.
Rajnath Singh: If any terrorist tries to disturb the peace in Bharat, or tries to carry out terror activities in Bharat, we will give them ‘muh tod jawab’. If they run away to Pakistan, we will enter Pakistan to kill them.
Q: So whatever Prime Minister Modi has said that this is not the Bharat that will be a mute spectator. We will enter your territory to kill the terrorists.
Rajnath Singh: Whatever Prime Minister has said is absolutely true. And this is the strength of India. And Pakistan has also started understanding this. By the way, India always wants to maintain good relations with its neighbouring countries. Whatever it is, it is our neighbouring country. And today you must have seen, look at the history. Till date, we have neither attacked any land in the world nor have we taken any initiative to attack any land in the world. This has been the nature of India. But if anyone shows India the angry eyes again and again, comes to India and tries to promote terrorist activities, we will not spare them.
Q: This is a very big statement. You have often talked about the people of Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Is there any time frame for this? How will we resolve this issue? The Hindus and Muslims there, you say that they are Indians, so what is its time frame? How will we resolve this issue?
Rajnath Singh: If we talk about Pakistan occupied Kashmir, it was a part of India earlier, is a part of India today and will remain so tomorrow. Yes, there are some such situations in this regard, but the people of PoK will say that they want to go with India.
Q: Will this be priority in the government’s third term?
Rajnath Singh: I told you, the people of Pak will themselves demand that they should be made to live in India, they cannot live away from our country and you must have seen that one or two protests took place there and those people want to merge with India. After the abolition of Article 370, the situation in Kashmir has become normal and the pace of development has also increased.
Q: In Kashmir, will you remove AFSPA from there?
Rajnath Singh: Now the time has come to decide that it can be removed, now the decision will have to be taken by the Home Ministry after the report comes. I said that the circumstances have become such that AFSPA can be removed but whatever action has to be taken in this regard will be taken by the Home Ministry.
Q: Let us also talk a little about your ministry. It is the election environment, so such things remain. Defence export is more than Rs 20,000 crore, how did you achieve this? What is your plan for the future?
Rajnath Singh: Strong will power, and the vision of our Prime Minister and his vision that India should achieve self-reliance in every matter. If India has to achieve self-reliance in every matter, then India should achieve self-reliance in matters of defence also. This was his resolution and on the basis of this resolution, we took our steps forward and today our export target of more than Rs 20,000 crores has been reached. You will see that in the next few months this is going to increase even more. When we came in 2014, the export of defence equipment was Rs 900 crore. Now defence equipment is also needed, whether it is tanks, cannons, shells, weapons, ammunitions, they should be made in India and by the hands of Indians. Even engines, engines of fighter planes, we have made an agreement for that too.
Q: We are moving at a slow pace in this field? Has work been slow in DRDO? Like the Chinese Navy – they have a huge fleet of submarines, warships. We only have 12 operational submarines, will the pace of DRDO increase in the coming time?
Rajnath Singh: It will happen fast. It is already happening fast. In the next term, people will start seeing its results.
Q: Rajnath ji, ever since you have been in politics, your relations with every party have been good, you have always kept the door open, so that talks can happen, people can meet and interact, no matter what the political situation is. Do you think the political environment is no more the same? People end up saying anything. Like someone says beat Modi with a stick, someone says break his head. Someone said something against Kangana Ranaut ji, someone said something against Hema Malini ji, so what do you think?
Rajnath Singh: One should be very cautious while speaking about the Prime Minister, since the Prime Minister is not just a person but an institution. There is no scope for the kind of language that some people have been speaking in a healthy democratic system.
Q: Rajnath ji, there are 3 states that will play an important role in making you achieve your 370 target. They are Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal. Let’s start with Bihar.
Rajnath Singh: We will win all seats in Bihar.
Q: You have made alliance with every party in Bihar. Earlier Nitish Kumar was called Paltu Ram, now it is being said that even BJP keeps going back to him.
Rajnath Singh: He saw the situation and decided that they should remain with BJP. This is in the interest of the country. People can say whatever they want to say about Nitish ji. But it is true that in his long history of work, he has never been accused of corruption. It is a big thing. If he is with us, then it is really a matter of joy for us.
Q: But since 2014, sometimes he says something about Modi ji, sometimes he says something else about the party. He keeps changing. Tejasvi ji has said that Modi’s guarantee is fine. Can you guarantee that uncle will not turn back again.
Rajnath Singh: He has himself said that he has come to stay with us. We will fight the Assembly election together as well.
Q: Let’s talk about Maharashtra. People are saying in Maharashtra that a strange mess has been created, two parties have been divided into four parties, one faction is with you in that, so why do you need to break parties like this? Is there some doubt about the Lok Sabha election?
Rajnath Singh: You should ask this from people whose parties have broken. We do not complain about all this, why do they break away? If someone wants to join us by breaking away, do we say that we will not accept you? People who have come from these parties, there are those who say that there were allegations against them. But when they were in your government, you said that our government has deliberately framed them. They are completely innocent. So they were innocent when they were with you, but they are guilty when they join BJP?
Q: But how are you managing that? You have brought back Eknath Khadse who was sitting out for a long time…
Rajnath Singh: He has come back himself.
Q: It is good that he has come, okay he has come, it is being said that he had to be brought back because the situation of BJP in North Maharashtra was looking a little bleak. The first time he left was because of a rift with Fadnavis ji. So how will you handle so much opposition.
Rajnath Singh: There are many such leaders who believe that by 2047, Bharat will be Viksit Bharat. It is natural that there will be a desire that I can also contribute in this, I can also do some planning in this, that is why they join the party.
Q: Finally, let us talk about Bengal, what do you feel in Bengal, last time there was a good performance, you got 18 seats out of 40, after that you lost the Vidhan Sabha elections, but you won 77 seats from there. What are you seeing this time? What do you think?
Rajnath Singh: It is certain that we will win more seats than before.
Q: How much more?
Rajnath Singh: Our effort is to double the 18 to 36? This is what we are trying and we believe too.
Q: You are the first leader who has given the figure of 36, a very big figure.
Rajnath Singh: We want to double it.
Q: Amit Shah ji had said that it would be above 25. What makes you think that such a big victory will happen? Does this mean that there is anger among the people?
Rajnath Singh: There is no thing called government left in West Bengal. Earlier, the Communist Party also had a government there. There was a stable government for years. There should have been rapid development in the state. No government could do this despite being stable. People have now started understanding the truth that if there’s any political party that can bring true development, it is the Bharatiya Janata Party, if any alliance can do it, it’s NDA. And today, people have the belief that only PM Modi can do this.
Q: Is Sandeshkhali also a big factor in this?
Rajnath Singh: It is a big factor, people are hurt. The state government was silent on such kind of unfortunate incident. And you must have seen that the state government faced criticism from the court.
Q: Rajnath ji, I want to ask you one personal question. What role do you think does destiny play? Do you believe in it? You have been a student of physics.
Rajnath Singh: I do believe in destiny. While destiny plays an important, a person should not stop making efforts. Any failure should not let you down.
Q: Your political journey has been very long in which you have achieved a lot. What would you like to do in the coming five years?
Rajnath Singh: I don’t know this.
Q: But what is your personal wish? What role would you like to see yourself in?
Rajnath Singh: I have no personal wish. Whatever the party and Prime Minister decide, we will do that.
Q: Rajnath ji, you gave us your time despite not being in the best of your health. Thank you so much and all the best for elections.
Rajnath Singh: Thank you so much, Rahul ji.
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