YEAREND INTERVIEW: With Jan Aakrosh Yatra, we will repeat Gujarat story: Raj BJP chief Satish Poonia

As per the programme, a total of 200 chariots will go to 200 assembly constituencies of the state, while ‘sabhas’ (meetings) being held out in each assembly constituency, which Poonia believes “will become a reason for the change of government Rajasthan”.

Asserting Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is into his “last innings”, Poonia said the people have stopped trusting him because of his appeasement policies. “Processions for Hindus are banned but for PFI is allowed,” he said.

Here are some excerpts of the interview

Q: CM Gehlot has announced LPG cylinders at Rs 500 for BPL families? Do you think this will affect your vote bank?

A: It is (now) a phase when people of Rajasthan have stopped trusting Gehlot. The way Ram Navami processions were banned but PFI processions were permitted and the manner in which Kanhaiyalal was killed have made an impact on the people. Also, they are well aware of fake promises made on farm loan waivers and unemployment allowance which never turned into reality. This promise on cylinders will not be believed by the people.

Q: Congress leaders say the third party in the state (RLP) is Gehlot’s baby … your comments?

A: Rajasthan’s people will never trust him (Gehlot). Some people talk of by-polls and even Congress counts it as success but they were contested on the basis of emotional cards. The party gave tickets to the sons/ daughters of the departed leaders and hence it won. But this will not work in assembly polls.

Q: Will the state be able to repeat the Gujarat story?

A: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have many similarities and they are identical in many ways. Gujarat has 100 per cent influence on Rajasthan. So definitely, Gujarat’s impact will be felt on Rajasthan too and we will achieve success by winning around 175… and I am confident of that. PM Narendra Modi’s “naam and kaam” (name and work) is reflecting on the ground. Thousands of people raise their hands when asked about Jan Dhan accounts, Ujjawala and toilets. People trust PM Modi’s work which has been proved in Gujarat and trends of this neighbouring state indicate that Rajasthan will see a similar success story.

Q: Senior leaders like Vasundhara Raje were ignored but young Rajasthan workers were given a chance in Gujarat. How has been the journey?

A: For Gujarat assembly polls, Rajasthan BJP leaders and workers were assigned the task in 43 seats. As Gujarat as well as central leadership trusted us, we won 33 seats out of the 43 seats.

Earlier, Congress was ruling on 21 out of those 43 seats. However, now, we limited them to 8 and won 33 seats.

Rajasthan BJP workers received laurels for that. Around 107 workers from our state were engaged at the grassroots level in Gujarat who worked quite hard and hence the state president and organisation secretary of the party has recognised our election management skills.

Q: Incidents of paper leaks are happening one after another in Rajasthan? How will the opposition take this issue forward?

A: We shall order an in-depth probe in the paper leak case when our government comes into power, and will ensure the guilty goes to jail. It seems like an organised way of paper leak which might help the Rajasthan government to make it into record books.

Q: There is discussion and debate on the status of 70-year-old plus leaders … will they be given a chance in the next election?

A: Issues like candidates’ age, gender etc., will be decided by the party’s parliamentary board. Going with the country’s trends, young leadership has been given a chance. Even in Gujarat, 91 new faces were given a chance and they were successful… So maybe, the party might repeat the trend here.

Q: What issues does this party plan to raise in Assembly polls?

A: While the party discusses problems, our focus will be to bring out solutions while raising issues related to Congress’ weakness as well as on the promises which we made but have not been able to fulfil till date. Our vision document or manifesto will have solutions on how to fight problems.

Q: What has been the impact of Jan Aakrosh Yatras in the state?

A: Jan Aakrosh Yatra has emerged as a platform which helped us raise issues against the state government. Around 5 lakh workers connected with this yatra. Further, we wanted to touch base with around two crore people at the grassroot level and we were able to do so.

Thousands of ‘Nukkad Sabhas’ and ‘Chaupals’ helped us to get into the interior areas and understand the pulse of people. For instance, one of our chariots went to 206 panchayats in Jaisalmer and 62,000 sabhas were called… that is the kind of impact we made at the grassroots. Around 5,000 to 10,000 people gathered in each of our sabhas.

IANS: What were the issues that came to fore during these yatras?

A: People are quite aggrieved on issues like electricity, roads and water. Despite the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission, people are yet to get water which has upset them. Also the poor law and order situation as well as high unemployment rate are other concerns.

The loan waiver promised to farmers is also to be implemented on grounds.

Our compliant boxes received 14 lakh complaints which we will decentralise on constituency basis. The local complaints will be sent to the SDMs / collectors at the district level while the state level complaints will be handled by us differently. I am confident that Jan Aakrosh Yatra will be the reason for government change in Rajasthan.

–IANS