Asked to react about Rahul Gandhi's remark at the CII that no single individual riding a horse will come to power and solve India's problems, Singh replied: " The leader from BJP who will come to power in the next elections, will not come riding a horse. He will be a grassroots leader, who has given his sweat for the last 30 to 35 years. Unlike people who have been hardly 5 to 10 years in politics, who studied in England, USA or Italy, and are being projected for the post of prime minister."
The BJP chief said: "I am not a charismatic leader, nor do I have charisma, but I would definitely work towards making BJP the single largest party in the 2014 Lok Sbha elections. The people of the country want BJP to lead the next government."
On Samajwadi Party and BSP lending support to the UPA government, Singh said: "The government may have the CBI, but I want to tell both the SP and BSP. They should not do politics out of fear of CBI. It's the people who elect and give power to parties. These parties should understand the aspirations of the people."
Rajnath Singh described how at the age of 24, he spent 18 months in jail during the Emergency. " For three months I was in solitary confinement. Nobody should do politics if one fears going to jail. How can such people serve the country?"
On the possibility of Janata Dal(United) moving away from BJP, Singh said, such speculations were baseless.
"Even today, Nitish Kumar has said that he would never support the Congress. JD(U), Shiv Sena and Akali Dal had been the trusted allies of BJP over the last 15 years. On the other hand, the UPA has lost Trinamool Congress and the DMK. The day, SP and BSP withdraw their support, this government will collapse."
The BJP chief rejected the charge that he had met Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya in jail, saying "I had only issued a statement questioning the treatment being meted out to her. I never met her in jail."
India TV will telecast
Aap Ki Adalat with
Rajnath Singh on
Saturday (April 6) at
10 pm and on
Sunday (April 7) at
10 am and
10 pm.
[For details about video, pl contact
Anita Sharma, senior executive editor, India TV on + 91
98111 99344]
