‘What you’re calling soft Hindutva is a part of Congress tradition’

What do you think went wrong for the Congress in Gujarat?

The Congress organisation could not activate itself during the riots in Gujarat to counter the rumour-mongering and the campaign of hatred of the RSS-VHP combine. The party organisation lacked the drive to meet this campaign head-on and fight with the RSS-VHP on the ideological plane.

Additionally, over the years, the Congress has had leaders like Chimanbhai Patel, and now it had Shankersinh Vaghela. The loyalists of the party felt cheated.

How should the party have tackled the campaign?

When riots took place in Bhopal in 1992, I was the Pradesh Congress Committee president. I ran a 24-hour control room and tried to bring about mutual confidence between Hindus and Muslims. Everyone is scared during a curfew and the RSS creates rumours that ‘‘there are so many Muslims, they are bad, they are criminals but we are here to support you’’. These rumours are designed to heighten this fear. We countered this sort of campaign of hatred here, we could not counter it in Gujarat.

Critics have also said that the “soft Hindutva’’ of the Congress is to blame for the debacle.

What is “soft Hindutva”? Consider the prayer meetings of Mahatma Gandhi, this is part of the Congress tradition. No meeting of Gandhiji ever took place without prayer. It is good to be a good Hindu but we have to respect other religions.

We are not communists. We have full regard for the sentiments of Muslims. We want them to feel safe, feel a sense of belonging, to feel included in the Indian milieu. Like anywhere in the civilised world we have to protect the right of the minorities by taking them into confidence, not by terrorising them. This is what separates us from the RSS-VHP.

But what signal do you think is sent to a non-Hindu when the Congress and the BJP use the same symbolism in their campaign?

What symbolism are you referring to?

Sonia Gandhi started her Gujarat campaign from a temple.

That was incidental. She had to start somewhere. For example in Punjab, she went to the Golden Temple, would you then call it “soft Sikhism”?

The same point is being made with reference to your demand that the RSS hand over land next to the Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain as well the emphasis on cow protection in your speeches.

Vinobha Bhave was not an RSS man. He was in the Congress. Gandhi and Bhave are towering figures of the Congress. As far back as 1936, the Congress had passed a resolution calling for a ban on cow slaughter. This is not part of some RSS, BJP agenda, it comes from the Congress’s own tradition.

Do you anticipate that the BJP campaign in MP will be similar to the one in Gujarat?

I am sure of it. They feel they can only win by dividing the Hindus and the Muslims. I already see them attempting this and I have no doubt about their intentions. I know them very well. I will not allow them to divide society. I will not allow communal riots in this state.

Despite your directions to the administration, a communal incident did take place recently in Ganjbasoda in Vidisha.

The fact remains that not all such incidents can be prevented. In this case it is important that they were controlled in a very short time.

The BJP has alleged that you are raising the spectre of communal riots to avoid debate on your record on development.

I can take on any one on this question. I am proud of what has been done in MP with regards to overall development. Something like this has not happened anywhere else. And I don’t need to speak for myself. The work here has been acclaimed by Central ministers and members of the planning commission.

When you talk of development isn’t the power situation in the state and the condition of the roads a cause for concern?

The fact is the situation on the power front is a problem across the country. There is hardly any state which does not face this problem, look at Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab. There is nothing exceptional about the situation in Madhya Pradesh.

And the roads?

It is true that we did not invest in roads. But now work is underway with an investment of Rs 2,000 crore.

But it has been alleged by the BJP and other critics of your government that programmes such as the Dalit Agenda are directed at political ends.

Do not link the Dalit Agenda with any political end such as getting votes. We have a commitment to the weaker sections of our society and we are determined to fulfill the promises made to them. Whether this gets converted into votes or not is another matter. Our commitment to this cause is not negotiable, it is not cosmetic.

Do you feel the manner in which you are taking on the BJP in this state is something that holds good for the rest of the country as well?

I am convinced of it. I am sure that this is the only way to do it. There is nothing new in it, this has been the way of the Congress for a long time, except for some minor aberrations. What I am doing is continuing a Congress tradition.