In an exclusive chat with Zee News’ Swati Chaturvedi on Kahiye Janab, BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain negates the party’s anti-Muslim image post Varun Gandhi’s hate speech during the Lok Sabha election campaign. Further, hailing the leadership of LK Advani and Rajnath Singh, the MP expresses faith in the party and discusses the reasons for the party’s defeat in the recent General Elections.
Swati: Hello and welcome to Kahiye Janaab. We had asked you in the past as to whether you are a nazarbattu or bazarbattu of the BJP. Now, post Varun Gandhi’s brand of Hindutva and BJP’s rout (in the Lok Sabha polls), what does Shahnawaz Hussain has to say? Before that, let me first congratulate you. A gag order has been passed by your party. But you have come up to put forth your statements. All other BJP leaders are escaping the media, but you have dared to make a statement. Thank you so much.
Shahnawaz: The Bharatiya Janata Party has not committed any sin, for which the party’s leaders will try to hide. And as you said, I am neither nazarbattu or bazarbattu of the BJP. I am a BJP worker. I am proud to be heard in the BJP; no one ignores my words. I am not a showboy. I am a responsible worker of the party. I have full faith in my leadership. The leadership of Rajnathji and Advaniji does not preach hatred and is not anti-Muslim. Their leadership seeks to move forward with everyone. That is my faith and that is why, I am a part of this party.
Swati: In the election campaign, Varun Gandhi, whose hate speech CD has been proved authentic scientifically and forensically, it was proved that there was no interpolation and no cut. Rajnath Singh carried clothes for him (Varun) in jail and did not participate in your campaign. How can you say that to Muslims of the country and my viewers that Rajnath Singh is with you?
Shahnawaz: See, I do not know if Rajnathji took clothes for Varun in jail. He went to meet him and I do not know from where you got this piece of news. He had to address a rally in my constituency. But, since he had to attend a programme in Ghaziabad as well, his (Rajnath Singh) visit to my constituency was cancelled. So, it is wrong to claim that he cancelled the rally in my constituency purposely.
Swati: No big leader of the BJP, except Arun Jaitley, visited your constituency.
Shahnawaz: I had not even demanded visits by any big leader. Arun Jaitley did come. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar and Sushil Modi were in great demand and the duo did visit my constituency.
Swati: Leave elections. What happened after losing elections? Rift in the BJP emerged. After that, Maneka Gandhi – the honourable member of your party – said that the party does not need Muslims. Is it right for a leader of a national, responsible, and principal opposition party of this country, to make such a comment? See the way you and Naqvi were insulted. What do you have to say on this?
Shahnawaz: See, Manekaji is BJP’s Member of Parliament. We do not have to comment on her. We will respond to her opinions in Parliament itself.
Swati: It is recorded. She said that the BJP did not lose (elections) because of Varun Gandhi and his hate speech. According to her, Muslims anyways do not vote for the BJP. She also said that the party’s Minority Cell, headed by you, does not exist on the ground and is defunct. Give me an ideological and basic answer to this.
Shahnawaz: Rajnathji and Advaniji have already replied to this. I just want to repeat it. There are many leaders in the Bharatiya Janata Party who get votes and many who do not. Today, two situations have arisen. We can run the party without Muslims. But it is impossible to dream about ruling this country by excluding Muslims and all other religions of this country (apart from Hindus). The party understands this quite well. We want to take along all the members of the Indian society, all citizens of this country with ourselves. No matter who employs what method and manner to pray. It is the BJP’s ideology to take everyone along. And if anyone says anything on personal level, Shahnawaz Hussain does not care.
Swati: You do not care but at the party’s forum, when Maneka interrupted you during your speech, didn’t you say that let her run the party? Didn’t you threaten to leave the party and wanted the party to let all Muslims go?
Shahnawaz: It is an internal matter of the party, Swatiji.
Swati: The party seems to have collapsed.
Shahnawaz: No. See, I speak in the party on the instructions of Rajnathji. I speak only after party president permits me to do so. I do not seek anybody else’s permission. I see myself just as a BJP worker. But you people see me as a lone Muslim MP from the BJP. My religion is my personal matter. And the party belongs as much as to Shahnawaz Hussain and Naqvi as it does to Advaniji and Rajnathji.
Swati: You said religion is your personal matter. Tell me how did you feel when you heard Varun’s speech, which has now been proved to be authentic.
Shahnawaz: Any leader who speaks against Muslims does not exempt Shahnawaz Hussain, APJ Abdul Kalam and Irfan Pathan. And if you are abusing Muslims, then it offends Muslims working in the BJP as well. That is why no BJP leader has backed Varun’s speech whose case is now in court. He (Varun Gandhi) has already said that the voice in the CD is not his. Though a forensic report has come, yet it has to be seen by the court. I can say responsibly that the BJP is against offending any community. The BJP will take everyone along as the party does not believe in such speeches.
Swati: It seems that you and Naqvi are two sarkaari Muslims in the party, who are suppressed by Varun Gandhi’s Hindutva brand. It seems, you two have lost standing in the party. The whole Muslim community looks at you and laughs. What are you doing?
Shahnawaz: There is no Varun Gandhi brand of Hindutva in the BJP. Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee’s teachings form the party’s Hindutva. For the party, the ideology of Hindutva means nationality, nationalism and Indianness. There is no scope of hate in the party. We are not sarkaari Muslims. We have won elections. It was my third consecutive victory. I have been a minister in the NDA government. It is right that we have to swim against the tide and suffer many taunts, sometimes more bitter than yours. The general perception about the party is wrong. People who come to BJP thinking it as an anti-Muslim party will be disappointed. The Bharatiya Janata Party never was, is, and will be communal.
Swati: This year’s defeat was BJP’s worst since 1989. You are an MP from the BJP. What do you think is the reason behind the BJP’s drubbing?
Shahnawaz: There could be a number of reasons behind the defeat of the BJP. I feel and the party as well has already admitted that there were cases of internal strife at many places. We failed to explain our manifesto. Advaniji was the prime ministerial candidate. There were fewer discussions about Advaniji and the manifesto, but more debates regarding our own negatives. That is the reason voters got confused whether we are talking about 2010, 2014 or 2020.
Swati: You talked about 2014. It means you are talking about Narendra Modi. Take into account Narendra Modi’s projection as prime ministerial candidate during the campaign and then support to Varun Gandhi. Tell me, if the campaign had excluded Varun Gandhi, would the situation have been different?
Shahnawaz: Now, what had to happen has already happened. There is no point in thinking about it again and again. We won 116 seats in the name of Advaniji. We cannot say that the BJP has been wiped out from everywhere. The BJP has won a considerable number of seats. But, we failed to communicate our agenda to voters. That is why voters did not trust us and made us sit in the Opposition. Hence, we will ponder over the reasons behind our defeat, analyse them and then discuss them. We will think how to structure ourselves and work towards making our own government (at the Centre).
Swati: Let’s look at three statements made by your senior party members. Arun Shourie said six journalists were running the party. Jaswant Singh said he would retire since he could not bear what was going on in the party and that he did not know what Hindutva was. He also alleged that the party leaders were refraining from introspection of the defeat. Yashwant Sinha, who has resigned from all party posts, said those responsible for the party’s defeat were rewarded in the end.
Shahnawaz: Defeat or victory is a collective responsibility. It has been decided in the party’s recent two-day national executive meet.
Swati: How can it be collective when all the decisions were taken by Arun Jaitley in Delhi. In fact, all the BJP advertisements were designed by Arunji.
Shahnawaz: When Yashwant Sinha, Jaswantji won, that was also due to BJP’s strategy. You will try to blame Arunji for the defeat faced by the party, but won’t credit him for the victory of our leaders. As far as Yashwantji and Jaswantji are concerned, the duo has been senior ministers in Vajpayeeji’s government. They have held charge of important ministries such as Defence, Finance and Foreign Affairs. Jaswantji is a member of party’s Parliamentary Board and core group. And all the decisions of the party are taken by the parliamentary and core group.
Swati: Who are those six journalists who have sidelined Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and workers like you in running the party?
Shahnawaz: What I know is that party is not run by journalists, but by leaders. There is democracy in the party. There is a Parliamentary Board and above that is a core group, which takes all the decisions. Now this can be a campaign to mislead that someone else is running the party.
Swati: How can this be a campaign? Your own senior leaders are saying this.
Shahnawaz: I have not seen that letter.
Swati: The leaders of the BJP are exchanging letters in the way Panadavas and Kauravas used to exchange arrows in Mahabharata. Leaders in the BJP do not communicate with each other, like over phone?
Shahnawaz: This is an era of communication technology like phone, messaging etc. The party’s president is always available. Rajnathji always takes out time, if requested. So, I feel if anyone has a problem, then he can take time from Advaniji and Atalji, and discuss his problems. Party is fully democratic and pays attention to everyone.
Swati: A gag order has been issued in the BJP after its defeat. If the party is democratic, then why are leaders writing letters to each other and are not allowed to talk in public. And furthermore, there is no discussion on the future strategy of the party.
Shahnawaz: There has been no gag order. And we all are partymen.
Swati: Addressing a press conference, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi had said whatever Rajnath Singh did was wrong. He said when he was the party’s president, the party was so disciplined that he never had to issue any gag order.
Shahnawaz: Dr Joshi was party’s president quite a long time back. Now, he is a senior leader of the party. He is a member of the Parliamentary Board. The party runs collectively.
Swati: Tell me one more thing. Observers say that the BJP is full of leaders but there is no leadership. Advaniji wants to leave the post, but is forced by party workers to stay on. Chief strategist Arun Jaitley has been appointed as Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha). He has not contested any election except the Delhi University one. Is this conveying the right message?
Shahnawaz: See, it is a blot on Arun Jaitley’s good qualities that he has not contested any election. But if he does not contest an election, he still does party’s work. He helps people in contesting elections by making strategies. If everyone will contest, who will do other significant jobs. A number of things have to be taken care of during elections.
Swati: Maneka Gandhi says that Arun Jaitley is the one who creates misunderstandings among party workers, gives off-the-press briefings, and plants stories against partymen. She said it during a party meeting.
Shahnawaz: I was not present at the meet when she gave this statement. Arun Jaitley is a senior and honourable leader of the BJP. Party workers respect him.
Swati: As a BJP leader, whom do you see as the next prime ministerial candidate – Narendra Modi, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj?
Shahnawaz: There is nothing called options in the BJP. These options are put forward by Swatiji. There can be a fourth as well as fifth option.
Adapted by: Kamna Arora
