ET Home › Opinion › Interviews Search for News, Stock Quotes & NAV's

से े िन ी 50 सोने ( एमसीए ) (₹/१० ॅम) यू एस डी/भारती… ई-टी माकट् स आप CHOOSE

04:05 PM | 09 MAR CLOSED पोटफोिलयो LANGUAGE
उतरवून ा
MARKET STATS 33,307 -44.43 10,226 -15.80 30,401.00 -28.00 65.16 0.01 िनमाण करा MAR

No vandalism in Tripura, CPM propaganda still at work:

Ram Madhav
BY VASUDHA VENUGOPAL, ET BUREAU | MAR 08, 2018, 11.49 PM IST Post a Comment

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav has dismissed allegations that Tripura witnessed
incidents of vandalism following the party’s landslide victory in the assembly election. In
an interview to ET, he said the party had nothing to do with the pulling down of communist
icon Vladimir Lenin’s statues in the state. Unfortunately, however, he said, some well-
meaning people too fell prey to what was entirely a propaganda of the defeated CPI (M) to
hide its failures. Edited excerpts:

How do you see the BJP’s big wins in the Northeast? How much credit would you
give to the RSS, which has been working in the region for many years now?
In the last four years we have been able to capture power in six out of seven north-eastern
states. Except in Mizoram, today we have BJP-led or BJP participant government in all of Ram Madhav said the party had nothing to do with
them. This has happened primarily because people there did not have an alternative the pulling down of communist icon Vladimir Lenin’s
statues in the state.
earlier. Now the BJP is seen by people in the Northeast as an alternative. Our focus has
been on development. PM Modi is seen as a man focused on development. Also, the
Congress has had negligible presence in states such as Tripura or Nagaland. These Big Change:
The end of Five-Year Plans: All you need to know
states have been dominated by regional politics, and in the case of Tripura, it had a left
government for 25 years. Besides the PM’s focus on development, the cadre’s hard work and proper strategising helped. The core of
our activity has come from the Sangh and Sangh Parivar organisations, be it ABVP, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram or Vivekananda Kendra –
they have been working in this region for the last three decades. They have built a very sound constituency for India. The physical
distance that used to lead to alienation was removed by their efforts. We built our political constituency on this India’s constituency. That
way, their contribution has been very significant.

How do you look at the defacing of Lenin’s statues in Tripura and allegations of subsequent incidents of vandalism?
The allegation that there was vandalism in Tripura is utter falsehood. There was no vandalism at all. It was a statue put up by some
people who were once influenced by communism. It was not a CPM or municipality installation. The same group of private individuals
decided to bring down the statue on their own. They hired a JCB machine. They pulled it down. Some people standing around cheered
for it. Where is the question of vandalism here, or of the BJP’s involvement? There is no news of this in Tripura media. It is entirely a
CPM propaganda in Delhi because the party has been solidly thrashed in Tripura, and hence, is raking up this issue and playing the
victim card to hide its failures.

Unfortunately, some well-meaning people too have fallen prey to this propaganda. This is, in fact, a conspiracy to defame Tripura. CPM
has said that 543 of its cadre members have been injured by RSS folks in Tripura. I challenge them to show at least one person in any
hospital. Nobody has been attacked. On the contrary 11 of our karyakartas (workers) are still in hospital after the election violence. I
completely disagree with the statement that Tripura is facing any kind of unrest. The state is absolutely peaceful. Show me one state in
the country where minor instances of violence do not take place. Having said that, we in BJP do not believe in violence or vandalism.
We have told our party workers not to indulge in any kind of violence and we have also told them about this propaganda that is going on.

Soon after the Tripura incident, Periyar’s statue was torched in Tamil Nadu…
I agree that is vandalism. It is a mob going and destroying public property. But historically it is the CPI-CPM cadre who have vandalised
statues. They have been vandalising public and private property wherever they are.

The Congress has accused the BJP of destabilising the Northeast in its quest for power…
There is no question of destabilising the region because every move taken by us to form the government has been an accepted
democratic step. And we are providing stable governance in all these states. The Congress, on the other hand, centred its entire
campaign in Meghalaya on communal slogans. They tried to invoke the Christian sentiment to vilify BJP and gain political mileage. They
indulged in religion based politics.

How would you respond to Congress leaders who said that the party should have been invited to form the government since it
won the largest number of seats?
In Meghalaya, the Congress went to the governor with 21 MLAs – actually it was only 20 as the CM contested from two seats. The
Constitution says the governor should be reasonably satisfied that you enjoy majority. Now, with 20, you cannot do that. But the National
People’s Party (NPP) that secured 19, one seat less, presented the support of 34 MLAs. Naturally, the governor felt convinced where
the support was. In a fractured house the governor has to be convinced, that is important. It is a Supreme Court mandate that majority
has to be proved on the floor of the house, but to call a party to form the government, the governor should be reasonably convinced.
Hence, what the governor did in Meghalaya was completely justified because 34 MLAs gave it in writing that they supported a certain
party.

In Nagaland, the BJP has emerged as the kingmaker. How do you see your party’s alliance with the Nationalist Democratic
Progressive Party (NDPP) working out?
The Naga People’s Front (NPF) and NDPP are regional parties in Nagaland, but NDPP is a by-product of NPF. Mr (Neiphiu) Rio has
been a senior and important leader in NPF who left to form his own party because of internal politics. We were aligned with the NPF
since 2003. We ran an alliance government in Nagaland since 2013 and that was an NPF-led government, which was also led by Rio.
After elections, Rio became an MP and TR Zeliang took over as CM. Our alliance continued. Before elections we wanted a certain
number of seats under the seat-sharing formula. NPF was willing to give us seats, so we approached the NDPP led by Rio. We had an
understanding between us – NDPP contested 40 and we got 20. And in the elections together we secured 30 seats. And we secured the
support of four other legislators – two from NPP, one independent and one from JD (U). Right now we have a strength of 34. NPF
secured 26 seats. As a pre-poll alliance we have 30 seats. Naturally we have the first right to form the government. Hence, the governor
has given us the opportunity and we are forming the government.

The details of the Naga peace accord have never been revealed. Do you foresee an amicable solution in the near future?
One of the main agenda items during the election campaign was to tell the people of Nagaland that an agreement that was being
worked out between the representatives of the government of India and the Naga underground groups would be safe-landed by our
government in Nagaland. We are committed to implementing the Naga accord in true spirit. We are hoping that the agreement is arrived
at very soon. That is in the central government’s domain – the PM has assured that the agreement reaches its conclusion very soon,
and once it happens, it will be safely implemented here by our government.

How do you view the TDP’s decision to pull out its ministers from the central government?
We are committed to the development of the new state Andhra Pradesh that was carved out five years ago. Both the BJP and Congress
had committed to the development of people. We have done a lot for Andhra Pradesh in the past three years and everything that is
there in the state formation agreement, will be fulfilled by the government of India. There are certain challenges that the finance minister
has articulated, but that doesn’t mean we are less serious about the development of AP. We are as serious about the growth of Andhra
Pradesh as the CM Chandrababu Naidu is.

Will talks with the TDP continue, despite its ministers resigning?
Of course. From our side, we know full well that the TDP is an old ally, and we hope to continue this relationship.

From your experience of handling places such as Kashmir to the states in the Northeast, how would you explain the BJP
managing to get a foothold in regions where it has not been strong organisationally?
It is true that the areas I handle are difficult. The party’s organisation is not strong in these areas. So it is always meticulous work, first
deciding what will work in the state and strategising around it. Our one slogan in Tripura – Chalo Paltai (Let’s change) – became a
household slogan. To sell the idea of change also required strategy, tactical moves, understanding of timing, extensive backroom work.
Apart from that, we knew our alliance with the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) would have some political cost. But we
calculated the benefit and the cost. In the cost-benefit analysis we saw the benefit overtake the costs. The CPM tried to show this
alliance as anti-Tripura, but we convinced the IPFT to agree to issue a statement that it was committed to a united Tripura. This blunted
the CPM campaign.

Stay on top of business news with The Economic Times App. Download it Now!

Live Market Industry About Us

News Newsletters Create Your Own Ad
Portfolio Commodities Advertise with Us
Powered by Mobile Speed Terms of Use & Grievance Redressal
Live TV Blogs Privacy policy
Biz Listings RSS

Download it from Download it from Download it from

FOLLOW US APP STORE GOOGLE PLAY Windows Store