New Delhi: After a huge mandate in Maharashtra, senior BJP leader Dr Dinesh Sharma, speaking in an interview with The Sunday Guardian, said that the main reason behind the triumph of the BJP-led Mahayuti is largely due to mobilisation at the grassroots level and active support from the RSS.
Dr. Dinesh Sharma, now a Rajya Sabha member, was a Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh during CM Yogi Adityanath’s first tenure.
He has been associated with the party since his youth and says, “BJP doesn’t play the card of minority appeasement and that for us, both Hindus and Muslims are equal.”
Here are the excerpts from the interview:
Q. You were in charge of Maharashtra till the Haryana elections. You were there in the state before and after the Lok Sabha results. How do you define your journey?
A: BJP has a very strong grassroots organisation in Maharashtra, and our cadre there is extremely strong and well-informed. Before the start of the Lok Sabha elections, we were still in the process of strengthening the alliance. There were some issues between Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and NCP (Ajit Pawar). After the loss in the Lok Sabha, we started working even more and acted as a big brother in the alliance.
BJP’s robust organizational framework, extending down to the booth and Panna (pramukh) levels, played a crucial role in the party’s electoral success. We campaigned not just for our party but for our alliance partners as well, which in the end yielded positive results.
Q. What is the role of RSS in this major success?
A: RSS is like a huge tree, and we are its branches. Without strong roots, branches cannot survive. RSS is our guiding force and ideological backbone, and without it, we are nothing. Swayamsevaks work without any greed, often silently, and have their reach in the remotest areas where the party fails to reach.
Q. The loss of the BJP in the Lok Sabha is often attributed to Party President JP Nadda’s statement that the party can work without the RSS.
A: This is wrongly interpreted by the media, as JP Nadda has been associated with the Sangh since his college days. The assembly results in Maharashtra show that there was no difference between RSS and BJP.
Q. The massive mandate that the BJP-led Mahayuti got is a vote for Hindutva. What is your opinion on it?
A: People voted for nationalism and against Uddhav Thackeray’s decision to join the anti-national Congress. People voted against them, and I believe that Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena is on the verge of collapsing. Congress has now lost all its relevance.
Q. UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s statement, “Batenge to Katenge,” resonated in both Haryana and Maharashtra elections. Did this slogan play a huge role?
A. PM Modi is the most famous and respected leader, Amit Shah has an outstanding political mindset, JP Nadda’s hard work, Yogi Adityanath’s success in UP, and Devendra Fadnavis’s political acumen—the combination of all this played a huge role.
Q. What are your views on the Sambhal riots? The Samajwadi Party is blaming the BJP for orchestrating this riot.
A: They (SP) are just spreading lies. In the recently held by-poll elections, BJP won seven out of nine seats. Even in Kundarki, where nearly 65% of voters are Muslim, we won the mandate. It shows that even Muslims trust us, while the opposition uses them as a political vote bank.
The SP candidate lost there by a big margin. So, why would we orchestrate such things where even minorities are voting for us? It’s the opposition who lost their ground even in constituencies dominated by minorities, and they are failing to digest this. They (SP) are the ones who did it and are now spreading lies, playing the game of minority appeasement.
Q. The opposition claims that you don’t treat minorities equally.
A. We don’t treat anybody based on their religion or caste. For us, everyone is an Indian first, and we don’t play minority appeasement politics. For us, Hindus and Muslims are all equal. But the opposition doesn’t want to give them jobs, education, free ration, and other benefits. Congress has been doing appeasement politics since its inception, and the SP is working with them.
Q. You say that Hindus and Muslims are equal in the party. What about Assam CM Himanta Sarma’s statement on Love Jihad, Land Jihad, or Flood Jihad? Does this not contradict your claim?
A. Look, in the place where he is working, he must be facing such problems, and only he can tell you about this. He is not against anybody.
Q. What about the narrative that the BJP is anti-Muslim?
A: It’s not like that. We are not against anybody. One should visit Assam to see his popularity. Even the minorities like him and vote for him.
Q. Who will be the Party’s new President?
A: It’s too early to say anything on this. We are not like the Samajwadi Party or Congress, who are ‘Parivaarvaad’ parties. We are not like them. We have a structure of internal democracy and rely on that. Time will tell who will be our next Party President.