•Unni Rajen Shanker: Has Hindutva stopped being an issue?

As far as my constituency is concerned, I didn’t raise the Hindutva issue. Nobody said I should raise the issue.   

•Manoj C.G.: On the Indo-US nuclear deal, the BJP has maintained that the 123 agreement is not in India’s national interest and they will renegotiate it. But recently, L.K. Advani said it can’t be disregarded. What prompted this change?

I haven’t met Mr Advani after that statement. But we will review it when we are in the government. It is a treaty between two nations and such treaties are not easily rescinded. Basically, what he said was that the BJP’s position and the government’s position will be reviewed after we get into the government. There are lots of steps remaining before the agreement is implemented, for example, an amendment of the Atomic Energy Act. An option for the next government would be to let the treaty lie for a while, or, after examining all aspects, take a step forward. I remain convinced the deal is not in India’s national interest.  

•P. Vaidyanathan Iyer: While you have Advani as your PM candidate, you also have voices supporting Narendra Modi as the next PM.

For this election, Advani is the candidate. Through a natural process, Narendra Modi has emerged. Earlier, we were talking about Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Pramod Mahajan. These were the second-generation leaders. No one was talking of Modi but whether you like it or not, he is the most popular campaigner for the BJP today. In my constituency, there was an insistent demand from the party people to get Modi. He has emerged, and it’s not through dynasty or conspiracy. So, if some people feel he should be the candidate after Advani, there’s nothing wrong in it. In Ahmedabad recently, I said he will make a good PM. He’s the natural choice for leading the party whenever the opportunity comes.   

... contd.