Arun Jaitley is busier than usual these days. Adding to the responsibilities of a Union Finance Minister, he is also the BJP’s star campaigner in Punjab, which goes to polls on February 4. This weekend he was campaigning in Jalandhar and Amritsar. CNN-News18 Deputy Political Editor Marya Shakil caught up with him in the city of the Golden Temple.
When your candidature was announced from Amritsar in 2014, you had written a blog talking about your association with the city. You said that your mother belongs to the city. Your sister was born here, your wife was born here and your association is largely because of food. In many ways, you are Amritsar’s prodigal son. So what brings you back?
I have been coming here since my childhood. Notwithstanding the fact that I didn't succeed in the last election. I have been coming here for a long time and have been trying to do a lot for the city. It is not necessarily for any political ambitions that I have. Certainly I have a lot of attachment for the city and I’m here for one day as part of the campaign. I am going to almost every constituency that the BJP is contesting. I’m going to be here in two rounds. I am covering 13 constituencies in the first round and 10 constituencies in the next one. So, I will be visiting every constituency whether it be in Amritsar or outside.
Ten days to go for the first joint Budget that combines both the General Budget and the Railway Budget. This is a quarantine period in the Finance Ministry. What is playing on your mind when you are campaigning here? Are you in touch with your officers in New Delhi?
I am deliberately choosing the weekends to campaign. I am here this weekend. I have taken one Friday off. We have been working on the Budget and have made sufficient headway. For the whole of next week, I’m going to be locked up, giving it finishing touches. I can’t tell you anything more. Yes, you are right. This is prime time as far as the Finance Ministry is concerned. Therefore, I’m preoccupied, but then elections are a part of democracy. In a state like Punjab, because I am in the central team of the BJP, I am one of the few Punjabi-speaking (members). So I can't really say I won't be able to come to the state.
How will you respond to those who are saying that these elections are a referendum on demonetisation?
Every election is called a referendum and no election is ever a referendum. These are all nice media headlines. These are state Assembly elections and are contested on a lot of state issues. Demonetisation is an important issue, which concerns the country. And if these elections are only on the issue of demonetisation, I will be too happy. Because then we will sweep straight away.
This will be the fourth Budget that you will be presenting. Will it be a popular one or populist one?
I won’t go close to answering that question because you will have to wait for the 1st of February before that question is answered.
Who is your principal opponent in Punjab? Is it the Congress or the AAP?
AAP had gained a considerable amount of strength till early 2016, and I think a combination of mis-governance in Delhi, irresponsible political behaviour and a couple of huge mistakes in Punjab has exposed AAP. Therefore, its popularity has significantly declined. I don’t see AAP coming close to forming a government in Punjab. It’s a more marginal player now. It’s certainly relevant in some seats, particularly in Malwa. In Majha and Doaba, I don't see them relevant at all.
This is for the first time that in a state Assembly election drugs have become the central issue. As someone who is from the state and has seen the state closely, do you acknowledge the drug problem?
I do. I think it’s exaggerated, but nonetheless it’s still there and it's significantly there. I do believe it’s a huge social problem, and the society instead of politicising the issue and finding answers to this in politics has to find the solution within the law and order mechanism, the law enforcement machinery and the social structure of the society. We have to establish more rehabilitation centres, we have to come down very harshly on the availability of drugs; police and families will have a role to play. Some parties think that political slogans are a solution to this. I am afraid they are not.
The Badals have been accused of being responsible for the proliferation of drugs in the state, destroying generations of youth…
That's a slogan. I am yet to come across a single piece of evidence identifying individuals with this problem. Of course, those who are involved in this illicit trade, some of them do get arrested. But then when such allegations are made in the public space, and you allow media to be lent to it, media should ask for evidence. You just cannot believe in slogans.
I have been travelling across the Malwa region and there are a number of families that I have met in drug villages who suggest there is a nexus between the police and the government?
There could be some perceptions. Perceptions may emerge out of anger and frustration. It has to be built on facts, somebody has to give us evidence. Let me assure you, as far as the central government is concerned, please bring the evidence. Irrespective of who the person is, the law and order machinery will proceed against them.
What will happen on March 11 as far as Punjab is concerned?
I think we have certain distinct advantages. We have advantages in terms of a popular central government, and the state government has performed extremely well on the development front. We also have the advantage of our opponents being split up into many camps. Therefore, both the arithmetic and the political environment are in our favour.
Navjot Singh Sidhu says he is a born Congressman. How much of a setback is it for the BJP?
I think he realised the truth of his birth few years too late.
Do you think Sidhu is a factor in this election?
Well, he is contesting on one assembly seat. So he will campaign in his seat. He is a factor in his own seat.
You have earlier criticised him as someone who is completely missing in Parliament…
For the last 12.5 years, Amritsar has had absentee MPs, absent in constituency and absent in Lok Sabha. Last 12.5 years have seen two MPs from the same constituency who never attended the Lok Sabha, who never raised Amritsar or Punjab issues in the Lok Sabha. If drug abuse was such an important issue, they should have raised it in the Lok Sabha. If development of Punjab was an issue, they should have raised it in the Lok Sabha. Being absent both in Parliament and in your constituency is something extraordinary. It's a fact that people of Punjab, particularly Amritsar, will keep in mind.
You have been in politics for over four decades now. What is it that worries you about Indian politics?
I think the declining standards of credibility. How do you believe a certain set of people, how do you believe certain people who convert constituencies into bargaining counters? How do you believe people who keep switching on parties? Let me give you a few examples. Here, you have the Congress being led by an individual who and who's family is now being accused with evidence in a court of law by the government of possessing accounts in HSBC in Geneva. You have been caught red-handed with those accounts and you have made corruption into an issue. Then you accuse others.
Do you think bipolar Punjab has become triangular now?
It was traditionally bipolar, but today it has partly become triangular with smaller parties getting some votes. So, I can't say AAP doesn't exit. It exits in patches as far as Punjab is concerned.
Arvind Kejriwal says your government is demolishing institutions and the CBI is targeting his party because he is taking on the BJP here?
CBI can only arrest a man and produce him in court. It's for the court to peruse the evidence. If the court finds there is no evidence, then the person gets bail or is acquitted. There is a limit to which the CBI can be used or misused. If that's the only illustration he (Kejriwal) has, then it's a very poor one. After all, when his official got arrested it took him weeks to get him released.
Talking about Uttar Pradesh, there has been a significant generational shift that has happened within the Samajwadi Party. How is the BJP viewing it?
A generational shift is a natural process. Nobody is immortal in politics, and nobody continues indefinitely. As one generation phases out, the next takes over. There is nothing extraordinary. It's the rule of nature.
What do you think about Akhilesh Yadav?
He has to do a lot more to establish credibility. Because the last five years saw the rule of gangsters in Uttar Pradesh. It's only when the family battle broke out that he took up this position that ‘other members of the family are responsible for these gangsters and I am not’. And then the (candidates) list after a compromise is released and you find every wretched gangster in that list. That's why I think he will have to do a lot more to establish his credibility.
Will the BJP be projecting a CM face in UP?
At the moment, we are not. The party is contesting under a collective leadership and we will decide when the MLAs get elected.
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