In a telephonic interview to Mudita Girotra, Congress’s North-West Delhi candidate Rajesh Lilothia says, if elected, his priority would be to ensure women’s safety in the national capital. Excerpts;
What are most pressing issues in your constituency?
My priority is women’s protection and women’s safety. I had launched an app named Indira shakti in Bihar in August last year. It could be downloaded from Google Playstore. Women have to register the contact numbers of their family members on the app so that a distress message could go out to them in the event of an emergency. Protecting and empowering women is the priority of the Congress. It is our responsibility to not just talk about it or put on paper, but put it to practice. Farm distress is also a compelling issue for me. Sealing is another area of focus. Labourers working at godowns have been hit hard by sealing. I working on ways to ensure they get some respite.
The BJP won all seven seats in Delhi in 2014. There’s still a lot of public support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Do you see it working for his party this time?
The Modi wave is only confined to his blind supporters. If you talk about the promises they (BJP) made to the people, they should answer if they have been able to fulfill even a single promise made in their 2014 manifesto. People can be fooled once, but not twice.
How confident are you about facing BJP’s Hans Raj Hans, a celebrity face?
While I don’t doubt his popularity as a singer, here, people need a leader who can be with them and work for them. People here don’t want to elect their MP for entertainment.
What’s your take on the last five years of the Modi government?
During the last five years of the NDA government, nobody got jobs. Farmers were forced to commit suicide, as they didn’t waive their loans.
They talked about protecting women across the country, but incidents of molestation and other crimes were reported every two hours. I feel my constituency, too, has been affected by their fake promises.
This being a reserved seat, is caste a big factor here?
I work for everyone. People are showing their support for us. Every section and every community is with us. They are supporting the Congress party wholeheartedly. They are rooting for me.