JP Nadda in 'Aap Ki Adalat': Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Jagat Prakash Nadda hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleging that he was trying to lower the morale of armed forces. "His Yatra is not Bharat Jodo Yatra, it is Bharat Todo Yatra."
Speaking to Rajat Sharma in the show 'Aap Ki Adalat', which was telecast on India TV on Saturday night at 10 pm, Nadda said, "Nobody has tried to lower the morale of our armed forces more than Rahul Gandhi. He questioned their surgical strike. He questioned our IAF operation in Balakote. He used the words 'hamari fouj ki pitai hui' (our troops were beaten up) recently. Who used such words? Who is lowering their morale? Rahul Gandhi bears ill will towards our forces. Our borders are safe under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. Our valiant soldiers are guarding our borders with full might."
Bharat Jodo Yatra
On Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', Nadda said: "Let him complete his yatra with ease. At least he has come out of his house for the first time, and has got an opportunity to see the real India."
Rajat Sharma: But he says he has come out remove hatred and spread love?
Nadda: Any leader must remember what he or she had said earlier. When he visited JNU, there were slogans in favour of Parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru. Who were his killers? Supreme Court judges or the then President Pranab Mukerjee? Rahul went there and promised to fight jointly with such people. One JNU product from those days is now in Congress, and is walking in step with Rahul Gandhi. Will they unite Bharat or divide the country? This is not Bharat Jodo Yatra, it is Bharat Todo Yatra.
Arvind Kejriwal's allegation
On AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal's allegation that BJP got 277 MLAs to defect till now, and if each MLA takes Rs 20 crore, it comes to Rs 5,500 crore, the BJP chief replied: "Who takes Kejriwal's remarks seriously? For the first time, in India, I have seen a leader carrying a placard saying 'Main kattar Imaandaar hoon' (I am truly honest). Recently in Gujarat, he showed a paper at a public meeting and claimed that the Intelligence Bureau in its report has predicted an AAP government in that state. I am now asking him, at least show me that piece of paper, but he is unwilling to reply. One becomes a leader on the basis of credibility, not on the basis of one-day activity."
Rajat Sharma: He says, your party tried to buy his MLAs in Delhi?
Nadda: What is his credibility? He had earlier vowed never to contest elections, never to form a party, not to give tickets to criminals. Now one minister is in jail, and the rest are out on bail. Moreover, they even asked a rape accused to become a therapist to give massage to their minister Satyender Jain. They should be ashamed.
Manish Sisodia's allegation
Asked whether Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia's allegation is true that BJP had offered him to quit AAP and in return, all ED and CBI cases will be closed, Nadda said: "That is out of the question. There is no question of taking such 'kattar' corrupt people in our party. "
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The Eknath Shinde episode in Maharashtra
For the first time, the BJP president revealed in 'Aap Ki Adalat', the behind-the-scene story that led to Eknath Shinde becoming the Maharashtra CM and Devendra Fadnavis becoming his deputy CM. Asked by Rajat Sharma to reveal the mystery behind why Fadnavis was not made the chief minister after the Shiv Sena was split. He was asked why Shinde was made the groom to ride the horse for the wedding, and not Fadnavis.
Nadda replied: It did happen. But the horse was not decked up for Fadnavis to ride as the groom. The atmosphere was such that Eknath Shinde had to be made the CM. 'Yeh tay tha' (It was pre-decided).
Rajat Sharma: Then why did you force Fadnavis to become the deputy CM? It was you who phoned him, when he was addressing the press conference?
Nadda: He had not made up his mind to become CM (unhone man nahin banaya tha CM banne ka), but we felt, he was an experienced leader... knew much about Mahrashtra. His staying in the cabinet will be better, because of his status. Eknath Shinde was made the CM, and Devendra was asked to become the Deputy CM. In this, I would like to praise Devendra, because he straightaway agreed, without any reservation or objections, as a party worker. He said, this is your order and I accept and he took the oath of deputy CM.
Rajat Sharma: Is there any path left for a rapprochment with Uddhav Thackeray, for both the Shiv Sena groups to unite?
Nadda:" I do not think so. I do not think such a situation will arise, because the atmosphere is such. We have to move ahead, and our agreement with them (Shinde group) is good. We will stay together."
Nadda rejected Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray's charge that BJP had promised two and a half years of rotational rule, but later backtracked. The BJP chief said: "This is totally untrue that BJP deceived him. During the elections, Fadnavis was projected as CM candidate from every platform. The election was being fought under his leadership, and the slogan was "Delhi me Narendra aur Maharashtra me Devendra'. None of the Shiv Sena leaders sitting on the dais objected. But after the elections, they allied with Sharad Pawar and Congress. They did not speak to us. He wanted to become CM. His (Uddhav's) greatest ambition was to become CM and his life's ambition was being fulfilled. It was he who backstabbed us. This has been their character (yeh unka charitra raha).
Rajat Sharma: But you made a Shiv Sainik the CM. You could have made Uddhav the CM, the problem could have been solved.
Nadda: But he never said this (that he wants to be CM). Secondly, we wanted Devendra as the CM in our pre-poll alliance. The alliance with Eknath Shinde was a new one, and so, he became the CM."
Rajat Sharma: Look, Shiv Sena was becoming smaller, and BJP was expanding. They were fearing their party may be gobbled?
Nadda: "It is not my job to teach or advise them. They should see why their base is narrowing down. To become bigger, they will have to do on their own. As for BJP, we will not stop from expanding our base."
Rajat Sharma: Their base was getting narrowed, but you made them smaller by breaking away 40 of their MLAs.
Nadda: Whose job was it to save the family? They were doing well when they were with us. Maharashtra was getting back on the track of progress. Corruption was being reduced, the government was serving the people. Our alliance was for the public good. He was supposed to look after his flock. If he keeps his ministers waiting for hours, stop talking to your party colleagues, if you do politics by maintaining a distance, then what can we do?
Rajat Sharma: They are alleging, there were only 7-8 MLAs with Shinde, rest of the MLAs were bought by Devendra offering 'khokha' (Rs 1 crore)?
Nadda: Losers always try to invent excuses.
Rajat Sharma: Devendra's wife Amrita said, Fadnavis used to wear a black coat and spectactes at night to meet MLAs?
Nadda: This may be her statement, but when a deal is struck, matters are kept secret. Talks are held in secrecy. I have not heard Fadnavis wearing black spectacles. You don't need to do this in Mumbai. They can sit at any centrally located place and meet.
ALSO READ | Eknath Shinde sworn in Maharashtra Chief Minister with BJP support
Using central agencies against Opposition
Asked about the opposition's charge that investigative agencies like CBI, ED become active only during elections, the BJP president replied: "During Congress rule, the Supreme Court described CBI as a "caged parrot". Their mindset reveals the type of activity they undertake. ED and CBI are independent agencies. Elections take place every year. Does that mean these agencies should stop doing work? Tell me, why they don't get relief from court in CBI, ED cases? Now, please don't say that we manage the courts. Both mother and son (Sonia and Rahul) are out on bail in National Herald case. Don't you think there is prima facie case? During elections, hundreds of crores of rupees in cash were seized from a perfume trader in Kannauj. In West Bengal, crores of rupees worth cash was seized from a person close to a minister. In Jharkhand, black money was seized from the home of a lady officer. If people indulge in corruption, you cannot stay away from taking action, just because an election is going on. Agencies will take action against the corrupt. Our Prime Minister has said from the Red Fort that he will not allow corruption."
Rajat Sharma: "Satyendra Jain, Anil Deshmukh, Nawab Malik, Sanjay Rout.. Why is it that those who oppose you go to jail and fail to come out?"
Nadda: It shows that they are corrupt, who looted the nation's money. The law is strict and action is taken.
Rajat Sharma: The reality is Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Chidambaram, several Congress leaders, several chief ministers and their close associates are either in jail or out on bail. Why do only these people get caught?
Nadda: "Their activity is such that action is taken. Just see, why cases are framed... They must have done some illegal thing or corruption, when they were in power. They can't level similar charges against BJP because we follow the rules, we believe in probity."
Rajat Sharma: "But the impression is being created in public that wherever elections are held, CBI, ED, Income Tax agencies are used to strike fear among leaders."
Nadda: "No, it's not so. Elections take place everywhere. I-T, ED will continue to do their work. Tell me one instance, where a case was made out and it was proved incorrect. ..If you want to survive in politics, you must follow the right path, you must be honest. If you do the opposite, you will have to go to jail."
When Rajat Sharma pointed out that Rahul has been saying, there is a dictatorship of 4 persons ruling the country, who is the fourth one, apart from Modi, Amit Shah and J P Nadda, the BJP president said: "I don't know. But all these four are not dictators. We don't strike fear in others, nor are we dictators. Our PM Modiji looks everything in a democratic manner. He has been holding conference of chief ministers frequently, during Covid pandemic, and most recently after taking over as G-20 president. He took all the chief ministers onboard. We are not dictators, we are democrats. Prime Minister Modi Ji runs everything democratically. We do not spread fear among others. "
When Nadda and PM Modi used to ride pillion on scooter
Recounting his days when he used to take Narendra Modi on his scooter, Nadda said: "I consider it my fortune that I got the chance to work with such a personality. I thank God who gave me this chance. I learnt much from him. Today I am what I am, because of him. He was our general secretary, our party in-charge and I was the Yuva Morcha chief. In those days we did not have cars. I use to take him on scooter. ..Modiji was very sharp. His thoughts begin when my thinking power ends. I used to prepare details for hours, he used to tell me, look from this angle. He had so many ideas at a time. I loved working with him."
Nadda: Modi Ji had this knack of extracting work from his juniors. He told me several times, Nadda, I will make you lean. The Ayushman Bharat, world's largest health scheme, was made in nine months, digitally. He took 20 meetings himself....It is true, during the last elections, I gave this slogan 'Modi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai'. Today Modi is popular not only in India, but across the world. His work during the Covid pandemic has been praised by all including the US President Biden, Japanese PM, WHO chief. He showed how we could provide protection to 130 crore Indians. The manufacture of two Covid vaccine doses in India was the fastest one."
"Modi's statesmanship is acknowledged across the world. When the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, he spoke to both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy and ensured safe passage for our 2,000 students. Even youths of other nations held our national tricolour to gain safe passage....Modi ji's thought process is so sharp, he thinks far ahead of others. Calls went our early in the morning, to find out the phone numbers and addresses of all Indian students stuck in Ukraine, and people were asked to contact their parents at least twice a day. ..We spoke to our embassy, got all details, divided state-wise, and within a week, we started contacting parents twice a day. Modi has such bright ideas....We work 24x7x365 without any break in our party. Holiday is not in our culture. Modi Ji has changed India's political culture...I would like to tell opposition parties, either you change your path or be prepared to sit at home".
Why Nitish Kumar left NDA
On why Nitish Kumar left NDA, the BJP chief said: "He started fearing even his shadow. The respect that Nitish Kumar got from our party, he will never get from any other party. We gave him full support for the progress of Bihar. Today, everybody knows the situation in Bihar. ..Today we have the strength to contest elections on our own in Bihar. We will also take our allies with us.
Rajat Sharma: Will you break the JD(U)?
Nadda: Things don't happen like this. If somebody wants to come to us by leaving his family, we cannot stop them. If we feel that they are a useful part of society and contribute in conveying our political ideology strongly, we will definitely take them in our party. We do not break other parties. If somebody cannot hold his family together, what can be done?"
ALSO READ | OPINION: Why Nitish Kumar ditched BJP and joined hands with RJD
Rajat Sharma: Is it not a fact that 19 parties left the NDA in the last 8 years?
Nadda: Some leave because they have an agenda, some have a family agenda, those who do not fit in the work frame, leave. But we did not leave anybody.
Rajat Sharma: I have your statement with me. You said, all the parties will wind up one day and only BJP will be left. Are you not finishing off all parties?
Nadda: First, one must understand why national parties are narrowing down, and why BJP has become the only national party. Despite being a national party, Congress never understood regional aspirations. Congress ruled Tamil Nadu, but 60 years ago, a regional party defeated Congress. Since then, there has been no change. Congress used to rule Andhra Pradesh. After its split, Congress lost both Andhra and Telangana. In Bengal, Congress is out of power since 30 years. In UP, Congress ruled for decades, and regional parties like SP, BSP took over. Regional parties became family-ruled parties, and because they are so, I believe them to be unscientific, because such parties cannot sustain in India for long. They will lose their existence gradually because of family infighting...When we fight regional parties in Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar, we know these are family-ruled parties, and their decline is certain. The people of India will reject 'pariwaarwadi' (dynastic) parties surely....But I do not want their extinction. We want healthy competition, but I find these regional parties have set small goals. How can they compete with our party's bigger goals? Only the party that has an ideological base, that understands economic issues, will progress further. "
ALSO READ: Aap Ki Adalat: Nadda reveals secret over Eknath Shinde becoming Maharashtra CM and Shiv Sena split
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