Q: Your own party has no base in Bihar. Are you doing anything for strengthening the base of your party in the state? And is there any possibility of your contesting Lok Sabha elections from Katihar in 2014?
Tariq Anwar: We have not taken any decision as of now on my case. The party will take a decision on whether I should contest elections or not? But yes, you are right that we don't have a big base in Bihar. The reason is that Bihar politics is caste specific and every political party runs on caste. But I come from a family of freedom fighter and we try to carry along every section of the society. We never thought of striking any ‘social engineering' based on caste equations and that's why we could not create a base for ourselves.
Q: One last question, along with Sharad Pawar and P A Sangma, you were the third member of the ‘Amar, Akbar, Anthony' troika that revolted against Sonia Gandhi's PM candidature. Today, you are a minister in the same government of which Sonia Gandhi is seen as the Super PM. How do you look at your journey?
Tariq Anwar: Sonia Jee herself decided that she will not become PM. So ultimately she accepted what we were saying. She realized that she will face many problems if she becomes PM. That's why she made Manmohan singh PM. We had never opposed her continuance as Congress PM. In fact, we had written to her that she should continue to serve the country as Congress president but since the post of PM was a constitutional one and we got independence after a long struggle against a foreign power, BJP may try to take mileage if your name is forwarded for PM post.
