VIJAYAWADA: Sunil Deodhar was instrumental in BJP’s landslide victory in Tripura, ending the 25-year rule of the CPM. Speaking to D Mahesh Kumar on party’s plans in the State on the sidelines of launching party’s Gandhi Sankalp Yatra in Tirupati, the BJP State co-in charge says Centre has no plans to take over Polavaram project.
What is your strategy for Andhra Pradesh in 2024 general elections?
My strategy for Andhra Pradesh as the party’s State co-in charge is building the party from the grassroots level. In elections, we may win or lose. In fact, we don’t work for elections, we work for our ideology. We work for the people of our country. If we win the election, it is good. If we don’t win the election, then again we will go back to the people. We are working for decades in Andhra Pradesh. But we could not taste victory in the State so far. But I feel, in 2024 or whenever the next Assembly elections come, there are strong chances of a saffron surge in the State.
Do you sense any anti-incumbency in the State now?
It is too early to comment on this because six months in office is nothing. But surprisingly, many people from the YSRC are joining the BJP. They are not big leaders, but district-level leaders or Assembly-level leaders, youth, women and minorities. When I ask them why they are joining the BJP now as four-and-a-half years are left for the YSRC government in the State. They have only one answer — “We like (Narendra) Modi”. When I asked them about the functioning of the YSRC government, they told me a Telugu proverb — Penam nunchi poyyilo paddattu ayyindi (It’s like falling into the fire from frying pan). However, it is very early to comment on this (anti-incumbency). Let’s see.
What is the stand of BJP-led government at the Centre in allocating funds and projects to AP?
The BJP government at the Centre never discriminates against States. The Centre treats all the States equally be it the (previous) Manik Sarkar-led CPM government in Tripura or Nitish Kumar government in Bihar (when we are not in alliance with the JD (U). There was no discrimination against the (previous) TDP government in the State. The same principle is being followed with the YSRC government. The idea of Modiji is very clear: people should get their due irrespective of their political affiliations.
There is a talk that Centre is going to take over the Polavaram project. Your comments...
Absolute rubbish. It is absolutely incorrect. The Centre has no such plans. It is the responsibility of the State government to complete the project and we hope that the YSRC government will complete the national project in a transparent manner. And if it fails to do so, then it (taking over the project) will be discussed. As of now, there is no such plan. During the election campaign, Jagan Mohan Reddy accused the previous Chandrababu Naidu government of indulging in corruption in the implementation of the project, especially in the Relief and Rehabilitation (R&R) of the project-affected. Now, it’s the duty of Jagan Mohan Reddy to expose the corruption and bring it to the notice of the Centre.
You are frequently demanding action against alleged corruption of the previous TDP government.
The BJP has zero-tolerance to corruption. For the first time, you can see a pro-incumbency wave in the country. The only reason is the BJP-led government at the Centre is not corrupt and it will not tolerate corruption by others. Be it TDP, YSRC, DMK or TMC, we will not spare any corrupt government.
There is a criticism that the BJP is enrolling members on smartphones, without meeting people. What is your comment?
To some extent, the 2014 membership drive, one can say, was like that. This time (2019), the membership drive of the party is totally different. This time, we are adopting both online and offline membership drive and leaders are meeting people, urging them to join the BJP. In fact, other parties in the State are scared of the BJP as the party, which managed to secure only 2.8 lakh votes in Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, was able to get 8 lakh members in a short span. So we are hopeful of completing the drive on high note with 25 lakh members before January 31, 2020. Now we are forming booth committees across the State — 10,000 booth committees have been formed of the total of 48,000 plus booths.
There is a criticism that the BJP is now taking the name of Mahatma Gandhi instead of their party stalwarts for its campaign. Your comments.
See, the BJP never forgets the great leaders and heroes of the country. The Gandhi family didn’t give attention to their own leaders to glorify the members of the family. Mahatma once said that the Congress should be dissolved after independence. Nobody took it seriously, including Pandit Nehru. But now, the fourth generation leader of the family, Rahul Gandhi, is trying to fulfil the advice of Mahatma Gandhi to dissolve the Congress (smiles).
Chiranjeevi’s Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy evoked good response in both Telugu States. Is there any proposal to invite him to the party?
See, we welcome whoever wants to join the BJP and according to their credentials and stature, they will be given responsibilities. I don’t have any information that Chiranjeevi garu wants to join the BJP. If he wants, let him join.
‘Watching Telugu movies sans subtitles’
In Mumbai, we used to watch Telugu movies dubbed in Hindi. After I took charge of co-in-charge of Andhra Pradesh, I started learning Telugu. Recently, I downloaded movie MCA (Middle-Class Abbayi) without subtitles and I enjoyed the movie. Telugu people are very talented. ‘Baahubali’ brought international recognition to Telugu films