M A I N   N E W S

‘I’m not its member, still my moves baffle BJP’
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

"I had resigned from the BJP after becoming the Vice-President. The party never called me back. If they don’t want me, should I sit outside, idle? My brain functions normally. I am still sane. — Bhairon Singh Shekhawat

New Delhi, January 13
Former Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat today said his decision to return to active politics was a matter of his commitment to the people and he was baffled that the BJP had problems with it even when he was not a member of the party.

The three-time Chief Minister of Rajasthan, who rattled his former party with his decision, said he was independent to exercise his birth right to contest Lok Sabha polls and was within the constitution to do so. He said no sincere worker of the BJP would object to his urge, which was why Atal Behari Vaypayee and LK Advani had been silent about it. “Let my critics come out in the open,” Shekhawat today said in an interview with The Tribune, reminding the BJP that he was no longer its member that it should seek to discipline him.

“I had resigned from the BJP after becoming the Vice-President. The party never called me back. If they don’t want me, should I sit outside, idle? My brain functions normally. I am still sane,” the former BJP stalwart said.

Shekhawat, who joined politics in 1951, is among the leaders who nurtured the BJP to its present strength. Today, the party is concerned about his ambitions, as the BJP had been projecting LK Advani as its prime ministerial face.

Evading questions in this regard, Shekhawat said he was senior to Vajpayee and Advani, but clarified: “We are brothers. There are elements within the BJP who want to create differences between us.”

Also, the veteran, whom a Rajya Sabha publication described as ‘ajatshatru’ (one with no enemies), was quick to dismiss his entity as a challenge to Advani. “I am surprised that people are bothered. He (Advani) has the world with him; I am all alone. There is now some public support for me. Let’s see what happens.”

But the circumstances today are different, and Shekhawat knows he has detractors - ironically within the BJP, which has been trying to counter his political aggression. Last week, BJP leader Jaswant Singh arranged a meeting between Shekhawat and BJP president Rajnath Singh, who apologised to the veteran for saying that he should not bathe on wells after taking a dip in the Ganges.

Shekhawat has not yet digested the remark. “There is but one Ganges in India and I can’t remain dirty having bathed in it once. I have to live in the villages, which have only wells,” he said. Only yesterday, BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, Vajpayee’s son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya and JD(U) leader Digvijay Singh met Shekhawat at his Aurangzeb Road residence here.

But the 86-year-old dismissed the meeting as a courtesy call. “I won’t be dishonest to a party that made me Vice-President, but I won’t be pressurised either. I can’t tolerate corruption. I am very unhappy with the Rs 22,000 crore corruption charges against the Vasundhara Raje government in Rajasthan. I regret having supported her as the Rajasthan BJP head,” Shekhawat said.

When asked if he still wanted Raje removed as leader of the opposition in Rajasthan, Shekhawat said: “You talk of removal, I want her behind bars for what she did. I wonder how the BJP is silent. If they tolerate corruption, they will be destroyed.”

Known for his pro-people policies (Shekhawat was described once by a former World Bank head as the ‘Second Rockfeller’ for his successful Antyodaya scheme), Shekhawat said the political leadership had made people believe that corruption and casteism were inevitable and they should learn to live with them. “It is to fight corruption and improve India’s ranking in Transparency International’s reports, where we are at a dismal 87, that I am returning to politics,” he said.

Years ago, Shekhawat had quit his first job in the police to protest corruption in its ranks. His wife had then given him Re 10 to fight elections - a debt she never let him repay. “I now have no choice but to serve people till I can. I am indebted,” Shekhawat said in a lighter vein.

He also rubbished rumours that Vajpayee had been ignoring his requests for a meeting (Vajpayee and Advani have not met Shekhawat since he made the controversial announcement) and said Vajpayee was unwell. “Had he spoken, this situation would not have arisen,” Shekhawat said, not forgetting to admit that Advani’s book “My Country, My Life” had inspired him greatly.

The grand, old man smiled at the mention that he now had enough material to write a book himself.