Q: Coming to 84 kosi parikrama of VHP in Ayodhya, the SP government says that the BJP and sangh parivar is trying to create the same communal sentiments of 1990s. They also link it to the appointment of Amit Shah as the state in-charge of BJP in UP.
Ram Madhav: Samajwadi party is the sinking ship in UP because of the way the govt is being run by the young CM who is a little less experienced. In order to retrieve their political fortunes in the state, they are indulging in minority politics. There was no reason for them to go after the Sadhus and saints who just wanted to do a peaceful parikrama.
Q: If I may ask a purely political question, how do you rate the performance of the Manmohan Singh led UPA government.
Ram Madhav: Unfortunately, we don't have the habit of rating governments. But yes, looking at what is happening in this country we feel very sad. The way the lives of common people are affected today is really shocking. Take the case of inflation level, the kind of economic mess that we are finding ourselves in today. On the security front, India was never seen by the outsiders as so meek, weak and submissive. Here is a country that is facing such ignominy at both borders (Pakistan and China). The government, its army and political system looks so helpless in the face of these challenges. Even on social front, we see a very thorough demoralization under this government. Let the people rate this government.
Q: What is the economic outlook of RSS in 21st century? What is your take on Rupee slide? This is happening with an economist as our PM.
Ram Madhav: This most sorry commentary on this government because it is headed by a so-called expert economist. Today the economy is into such a tailspin that nobody knows how to control it. That speaks volumes of the expertise that this PM has.
Coming to the economic model that we believe in, 20 years ago when this liberalization process had started, we had said that we need a model where Indian economic fundamentals are strengthened first. To this day, we have not done that. Our manufacturing sector is in pathetic condition. For defence equipments, we have to look to other countries like France, Austria and Russia.. This has resulted in current account deficit problem.
Everything is being imported in this country- from shirts to shoes. You want to open even retail sector for Walmart. I believe there, our fundamentals are wrong. That's why we say -strengthen Indian economy that is equal to European economy. European market consists of less than 35 crore customers. In India, we have 50 plus crore middle class here. Use this as a potential market, strengthen Indian economy and then go for international liberalization programmes.
