In a 50-minute one-on-one interview with News18, Union home minister Amit Shah dealt with several important issues — from the hijab controversy to the Uttar Pradesh elections
Union home minister Amit Shah’s mid-poll season exclusive and first interview given to news channel News18, adopted a measured and firm tone. It was a 50-minute one-on-one interview
It was a media outing after a long time for the Home Minister, and it was broadcast before the dramatic developments in the Ukraine later in the night. Shah positioned himself as a loyal soldier under the guidance and leadership of his long-term friend and mentor Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and mentioned him several times throughout the interview.
Amit Shah looked comfortable and exuded a justified confidence. While immensely powerful, Shah seemed to have retained a basic humility and common touch despite several years in high office. This is in common with Prime Minister Modi and indeed Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Looking further at the various BJP chief ministers in the fray as well as the other BJP union and state ministers elsewhere, humility is something of a BJP hallmark. It flies in the face of concerted attempts by sections of the Opposition, dynasts and immensely privileged people themselves, sections of the hostile local and foreign media, some disgruntled intellectuals and economists, to paint these leaders as imperial, dictatorial, communal or fascist.
On the contrary, this dedication to the nation is transparent in the BJP leadership, and the people of the land find it endearing.
And last but not least, the BJP, after 7.5 years in power at this time, is not corrupt.
For example, on his humility, Amit Shah was clear that personally he did not want to see hijabs or indeed any religious clothing in schools, but he would naturally bow to the verdict of the judiciary. Because, the judiciary in turn would judge its constitutionality.
The digital and print media too, this morning, highlighted his personal position of the ‘hijab row’, which is very current. Was Shah hinting that the court would ban hijab wearing in schools, colleges and other educational institutions?
Was Shah also upholding the supremacy of the Indian Constitution over high decibel emotional agitations that may try to deviate from it and exert an unconstitutional pressure? He called such forays ‘Whims’, unlikely to succeed.
He expects that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), being demanded by many citizens, will be implemented in Uttarakhand after BJP wins this election. It will have to undergo discussions with multiple stakeholders however, to be adopted nationally. At present it operates smoothly in Goa as a law inherited when the state became part of India.
Shah said the BJP would win in both Goa and Manipur where the cadres were working well.
The delimitation exercise in J&K was nearly completed, said Shah, and elections would follow at a suitable time in the not too distant future, perhaps in about eight months. There should be no worry on this account.
Shah criticised Opposition figures like Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rahul Gandhi of the Indian National Congress (INC). He separated out Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), with criticism only for past misdeeds, rather than the BSP’s present stance as a likely spoiler for the SP’s vote-banks.
He found SP and BSP past government attempts to shield terrorists booked under stringent terror laws, reprehensible. This in the backdrop of the verdict and quantum of punishment recently announced in the Ahmedabad blasts case after 13 years. It should be remembered that like Narendra Modi, Amit Shah has long been an Islamic terrorist target too.
Shah asserted the CAA was very much on the table but could only be implemented once the pandemic was well and truly over. But to underline his resolve, he said the question of withdrawing it, ‘did not arise’.
Speaking to Editor-in-chief Rahul Joshi on the lawns of his residence, the home minister looked rested and collected. This, even though he has been maintaining a hectic physical and digital campaign schedule including door-to-door meet and greets. In the era of the pandemic, this would be a challenging and gruelling undertaking for anybody.
As expected, Uttar Pradesh (UP) took up the bulk of the time during the interaction. Amit Shah is seen as the architect of two crucial and game-changing wins in the electorally vital state of UP, one for the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, and then again for the Assembly elections in 2017. Shah was sanguine for 2022 as well during this interview. I have travelled through every district of UP by road to campaign and make my assessments, said Shah.
He said that the BJP led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath would win over 300 seats this time too, irrespective of the lower numbers projected by the opinion polls. Shah said people were cautious when talking to pollsters. He asserted that Yogi Adityanath would be Chief Minister for his second consecutive term. Far from experiencing anti-incumbency, the Adityanath government was much appreciated for vastly improving the law-and-order situation in the state. All three of the biggest ‘bahubalis’, as Shah termed them, naming three minority community criminals allegedly backed by the SP and BSP governments, were in jail.
‘Jungle Raj’, the common term used by many, but not a careful Shah, was a hallmark of the Samajwadi Party (SP) era. Shah did say however that dacoity was down 72 percent, loot reduced by 62 percent, kidnapping was down 39 percent, rape is lessened by 50 percent
In addition, the ‘Gareeb Kalyan’ welfare programmes in UP have had a big impact, said Shah. Development of UP has been unprecedented under Yogi Adityanath, doubling its GDP to Rs 21, 31,000 crore and taking up its ranking to No.2, up from No.8, in the union of states overall.
And common necessities like access to drinking water, electricity and toilets have won the hearts of the people. Women felt safe going out at night, land mafias could no longer operate, cattle were not purloined.
Amit Shah reeled off a slew of development and welfare statistics from memory. He stoutly refused the suggestion that the BJP discriminated against the minorities in any of their actions or programmes. However, voting patterns cannot be termed as polarisation, he said. Neither could Muslim candidates be given tickets just for the sake of representation, if they stood little chance of winning.
Shah was in his element fielding questions on how the relative vote shares for the different parties in the fray operate, and indeed the seats they yield. He pointedly said that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will wield influence in this election too.
There were limited questions and short comments on the other states in the election. Shah thought Congress saying UP Bhaiyyas should go away was unsupportable. He said the outcome of the Punjab elections this time were hard to predict, but yes, allegations of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) links with Khalistani terrorists would be investigated.
Shah said recent good work done by Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami would see the BJP to victory in Uttarakhand.
He dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s motivated statements on Balakot. And rubbished his recent statement in Parliament that the BJP policies had brought Pakistan and China closer together. He called it a case of not knowing the historical actions of his own Congress.
Shah acknowledged Assauddin Owaisi attracted Muslim youth in UP, but whether he could influence the elections remains to be seen on 10 March.
Did Shah speaking from his splendid Lutyens’ Delhi home convey the impression of a Central government firmly in control? Yes, he definitely did. And if his prognosis of winning every state except perhaps Punjab comes true on 10 March, then the NDA is well positioned for further state elections in 2023, before the general elections in 2024.
Is there a hint of tightening the screws nationally on lawlessness, terrorist backers, and a firmer line in foreign policy with regard to our immediate neighbourhood and those who wish to influence us? Certainly.
The interview gave the impression that the BJP would not only do well in these state elections, but it was going to change gears for the remaining 2.5 years of this term in office at the Centre.
The writer is a Delhi-based commentator on political and economic affairs. The views expressed are personal.
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