Home > 2007 Issues > July 01, 2007

The BJP is fulfilling its poll promises ?Bhagat Singh Koshyari Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari is president of Uttarakhand BJP. After formation of the BJP government in the state he has also been appointed chairman of the Coordination Committee to ensure better coordination between the government and the party workers. Organiser representative Ravindra Saini spoke to him in Dehradun. Excerpts: How would you ensure better coordination between the party and the government? The government and ministers will listen to all the problems of the party workers. We should not think negatively. All the genuine demands of the party workers will be fulfilled. We have learnt a lot from the past. We will try to satisfy our workers. I will talk to the Chief Minister or ministers in case problems of the party workers are not solved. We will try to fulfill the aspirations of our workers and the common man. BJP took the support of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD). Some people have reservation over this friendship. What do you say? The people of Uttarakhand have given the BJP the opportunity to rule and serve the state. The BJP succeeded in gaining 35 seats, which meant we needed one more MLA to prove majority in the House. Even the opposition respects the feelings of people of the state which is in favour of the BJP, that is why the UKD preferred to support us and I don?t think there is any problem in seeking the support of UKD. The BJP will follow its manifesto. It will never give up its ideology. Why did the BJP not get absolute majority? We had believed that the BJP would gain at least 40 seats because the people of Uttarakhand were totally fed up with the misrule, corruption, scams and scandals and price rise and they would realise that it was the BJP that kept its promise of making Uttarakhand a separate state and granting it a special status. But we were given only 35 seats by the voters. This may be the will of the God and the public. It should be taken positively. If we had succeeded in getting more than 40 seats, we would have been more proud of it. During the last assembly elections the Congress had got 17 seats more than the BJP because of only one per cent votes. While we have gained more than 2.5 per cent more votes than the Congress. There may be some mistakes. We will find them out. What are those mistakes? We would not discuss them openly. We will introspect in party meetings. I would like to tell you one more thing that the BJP workers are not responsible for this performance, but we the state leaders might have taken some wrong decisions. Are you fully satisfied with the expansion of the Cabinet? I am absolutely satisfied with the expansion of the Cabinet. I had been a part in forming the Cabinet. It is also a fact that several senior leaders have not been made ministers but it is our compulsion. There cannot be more than 11 ministers in the Cabinet according to the directions of the Supreme Court. Because of these statutory limitations we were bound to form a small cabinet. Not more than 15 per cent MLAs can be made ministers. The distribution of red light cars is one of the major reasons of the defeat of Congress in Uttarakhand. The BJP raised this issue during the elections. Will you also distribute these red light cars to your workers? The Congress violated all norms by distributing unnecessary and undesirable number of lal batti cars, which pushed the state into the trap of about 16 thousand crore debt. We will not repeat this blunder. The media made a big issue of differences between you and Shri Khanduri. Comment. Media has made it a big issue for nothing. I am a dedicated worker of BJP. I admit that I am a swayamsevak. My prime task is to make the organisation strong. Being the state president, I wished that the BJP should gain the ground in assembly election. My aim or ambition was not to be the Chief Minister. That the government and the administration should be appreciated by the common people is my greatest wish. I do not know whether the BJP workers wanted me to be the Chief Minister but I do know that all the workers wanted the BJP to come to power. The BJP has got success and has formed the government. The government should run on the right path gaining appreciation of the people. It was rumoured that some MLAs were ready to resign in case you were not elected Chief Minister. What is the truth? This is a rumour only. It has never been in my notice that someone has said such a thing. If it was true, those MLAs would have resigned by this time. Such rumours are being spread in vain by our opponents. People will not forgive those who will try to destabilise the government. The sole aim of all MLAs and party workers is that the government should complete its full tenure and take decisions for the welfare of people and the state. The workers and the people should feel that this is our own government and we are part of it. Khanduriji is an efficient and an experienced politician. He will run the government successfully fulfilling the aspirations of the people. He will prove himself a better Chief Minister with his commendable performance. The high command considered Khanduriji the most suitable person for the post of Chief Minister. Therefore, there should be no controversy over it.

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