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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  BJP has not given anything to tribals and youth: Charan Das Mahant
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BJP has not given anything to tribals and youth: Charan Das Mahant

Union minister of state for agriculture on the Congress party promising justice and security to all sections of society

Charan Das Mahant says the party is fighting the election on the agenda of social justice. Photo: Ramesh Pathania/MintPremium
Charan Das Mahant says the party is fighting the election on the agenda of social justice. Photo: Ramesh Pathania/Mint

Raipur: Charan Das Mahant, Union minister of state for agriculture and food processing, has taken charge of Chhattisgarh’s Congress party unit after former state chief Nand Kumar Patel along with other senior leaders of the party was killed in a Maoist attack on 25 May. Apart from the task of defeating the popular Raman Singh-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, Mahant has to keep the intensely faction-ridden state Congress united. Mahant has had differences with former Chhattisgarh chief minister and senior Congress leader Ajit Jogi, but seems to have buried them for the time being in order to present a united face in the “make or break" elections. In an interview, Mahant said the Congress is promising justice and security to all sections of the society and is confident about the people’s response to it. Edited excerpts:

What’s the Congress strategy to take advantage of the anti-incumbency factor against the Raman Singh government and to overcome the goodwill the chief minister enjoys because of the popular welfare schemes he introduced?

In the last 10 years, the BJP government has not given anything to the tribals and the youth in Chhattisgarh. Not only that, it has taken away around 6-7 lakh acres of land from the farmers and given it to the industrial houses. The BJP government has changed the names of the welfare schemes introduced by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government and implemented them. And there is lot of corruption also. Today, the assets of the BJP MLAs (members of legislative assembly) and the ministers have multiplied. What happened in Chhattisgarh is just corruption, not any welfare programmes. Development happened in their (politicians’) families, not for the poor people in this state.

No development has taken place here. The roads are in bad condition, no teachers in schools, nor are there any doctors in hospitals. In Chhattisgarh, the atmosphere has become one of hatred and insecurity. The Congress has lost the top members of our family; we feel their absence and we are trying to fill that gap. It’s the responsibility of the state government to provide security to its people. The chief minister is roaming around with multi-layered security and the common people face the brunt. The tribals in Bastar are not able to come out on the road even in the daytime. If not for the court’s intervention, this government would have failed to protect the girls even.

It’s not in Chhattisgarh, everywhere the Congress’s tradition has been not to project the chief ministerial candidate. We are fighting the election on the agenda of social justice. We are confident that the Congress will win majority and the elected legislators will decide the legislative party leader. After the discussions, either Congress president Sonia Gandhi or vice-president Rahul Gandhi will decide. We have not projected any face, nor will we. It’s our joint leadership now.

Are you a CM candidate?

I have been sent to fulfil the role of the PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) president and it’s my responsibility to ensure that the Congress wins the election.

What about the infighting in the Congress unit? You have complained against Ajit Jogi who took out rallies independently.

It is a reality that the Congress had fought both the 2003 and 2008 elections not as one, but as a divided house. But things are different today. We are united now and we work together to make the party win this election. We have no infighting and this reality makes us more confident that we will win this election.

First-time voter is a major factor in the elections. How do you address the youth’s aspirations?

We have succeeded in convincing the voters that every section will get the share of development if we come to power. We have promised jobs for the employables, filling the vacancies without delay, free rice for poor, we will provide them jobs through Mahatma Gandhi job guarantee scheme and will also provide 35kg rice free for the poor. We have promised to procure rice at 2,000 per quintal in order to give relief to the poor. The current government has failed to bring back the tribal girls who have been cheated and taken out of the state. The Congress will protect the state like a head of the family.

How do you see the prospects of a third alliance of non-Congress, non-BJP parties? Do you see parties like the BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) playing significant role in the post-poll scenario?

The BSP used to get the support of the Satnami community. The scheduled castes (SCs) here used to get 16% reservation, which has been brought down to 12%. So the SC communities have turned against the BJP and these votes will not go to the BSP, but will come to the Congress. And what the Chhattisgarh Swabhiman Manch will get now is the votes of the BJP. These communities have realized that the BJP cannot be trusted. So our support will increase.

So the anti-incumbency votes will not be shared?

Congress will get the advantage of an anti-incumbency factor because the Congress has proved a non-corrupt government and we will be able to provide security to the people. So the entire anti-incumbency vote will come to the Congress.

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Published: 15 Nov 2013, 01:00 AM IST
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