Q: It is said that there is a coterie in BJP that lacks mass support but is very powerful at the national level and that they are always afraid of leaders having mass support. You have examples of how Kalyan Singh was removed in UP and the way Yeddyurappa was forced to resign in Karnataka. It is said that the same lobby is not in favour of projecting Modi as PM candidate.
Hussain: See, there is no coterie in BJP. All other parties except Communists are one person parties where there is no internal democracy. You have parties of a Behen ji (Mayawati) and a Neta ji (Mulayam). Then you have personal parties of Sonia Gandhi, Lalu Prasad, Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi. Unlike these parties, there is internal democracy in BJP. The party takes unanimous decisions despite different leaders having different viewpoints.
Q: You are talking about internal democracy but the way you removed Yeddyurappa in Karnataka tells a different story. The state unit of party was fully behind Yeddyurappa, still you forced him to resign.
Hussain: See, we have never compromised with our principles and corruption. You know ,Atal ji waited for a long time to become PM. He would have become PM much earlier, had we compromised with principles. But we decided against compromising.
Q: Advani ji continues to be in the news for his Prime Ministerial ambitions. Is he once again in the PM's race for 2014 elections?
Hussain: Every Indian national is eligible for the post of PM. Even you could be the PM. Whoever is acceptable to the people of India, will be the Prime Minister. It's not proper to stop any body from aspiring for any position. Advani ji is part of the decision making body and the final decision will be unanimous. So far as the PM race is concerned, the entire population of 125 crore is in the race.
Q: Is Narendra Modi going to contest elections from UP this time?
Hussain: I am part of the central election committee that selects LS candidates across the country. And I can tell you that the process of selection of candidates is yet to start, so nothing has been decided. Narendra Modi is a big leader of the party and the party will take a call on his candidature as well as his constituency.
