Prabhu Chawla (PC): ThE BJP is completing five years in office. What are your achievements so far?
Venkaiah Naidu (VN): The entire party is now in a fit mood. We are more organised, more confident. People realise that we have a bright future also. The party is on the move.

PC: I asked you about the achievements. Can you list five major ones?
VN: We have proved that we can give stability. No non-Congress government could give a stable government, whatever may be the reasons.

PC: You are supposed to be the party president. You have not been able to reduce the cost of the Government. Corruption cases have been maximum in the past five years.
VN: I don't agree at all. I am ready for a complete probe if anybody can point out any specific scandal involving specific people. UTI is a system failure, the same that happened during the Manmohan Singh period.

PC: Urban Development Minister Anant Kumar is accused of giving land to the Sangh Paroivar outfits ...
VN: I am proud that I have a minister who has given land to constructive and charitable organisations. Till now, all the land was going to one family. For the first time, a nationalist organisation has been given land.

PC: Are you running a government for India or for the Sangh Parivar?
VN: We are running a government for India. India includes NDA, India includes BJP, India includes the Parivar also. Why this fixation with the Parivar? Because it has become a fashion for leftist intellectuals and certain sections of the media. Nationalist forces should be given preference.

PC: For jobs also?
VN: Any good thing for which they are qualified for.

PC: You are mastering the art of misusing the Government.
VN: We don't want to master it. We are removing the anamolies of the past.

PC: The HRD ministry is being used to destroy the national curriculum in education.
VN: I must compliment my minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, who has done exce
ent work. It has been appreciated by one and all. It has even been upheld by the Supreme Court. He has taken the initiative to go to experts and remove distortions. Where is the question of a saffron agenda?

PC: So you think this is a very efficient government?
VN: The most efficient and honest government. I am proud that none of our ministers are facing any charge worth mentioning.

PC: You have created a record in this country by having the largest Cabinet.
VN: I don't agree with that also. You go through Shrimati Gandhi's Cabinet.

PC: You need a jumbo cabinet to run the country?
VN: India has a huge population. This is the appropriate size.

PC: But there are power-hungry people in your party.
VN: I will agree with you there. We have had instances of indiscipline. There has been concern about that. And we are trying to attend to it.

PC: Don't you think that you are going back to the RSS to ensure discipline.
VN: Definitely. Many of us draw inspiration from the RSS. And then we have increased the frequency of interaction with the RSS because as we are growing there are problems. We are a parivar. We have friendly relations with the RSS and we are drawing people from there who are willing to work for the public.

PC: You still draw your inspiration from RSS philosophy?
VN: We draw inspiration in terms of nationalism, discipline and dedication.

PC: So RSS is still the guiding spirit behind the BJP?
VN: As far as nationalism, discipline and dedication are concerned, we still draw our inspiration from the RSS.

PC: Do you draw your inspiration from the RSS for your governance also?
VN: Governance is determined by the government's common agenda.

PC: If you have to make a choice between the RSS and the NDA, which one would you pick?
VN: We are a part of the NDA, we are leading it and have made it clear to the RSS also,

PC: When such a situation comes now, you will make a choice ...
VN: The situation will never come. The RSS is becoming more and more acceptable. More and more people are embracing Hindutva. The Congress party has become defensive, it is suffering with convulsions, confusions, maledictions. You see the behaviour of the Congress leaders. The Rajasthan chief minister is holding Ramkathas, the Chhattisgarh chief minister is holding Ram lilas.

PC: Do you mean to say that Hindutva will now decide the future of the governments of this country?
VN: I am saying that Hindutva will become more and more acceptable.

PC: And those who oppose it will be confined to the dustbin ...
VN: They will face what they have faced in Gujarat.

PC: Part of the Hindutva 's original agenda includes a uniform civil code, abrogation of Article 370 etc ...
VN: The uniform civil code, construction of the Ram temple, abrogation of Article 370— they are very much there. We are not at all apologetic about our stand. We still hold that they are good for the country. At the same time, as we are the head of the ruling coalition, people have not given a mandate for the party, they have given a mandate for a common agenda before people, under the leadership of Vajpayee. We are committed to implement our common agenda. That's why I said we are proud of our ideology. But we will not thrust our ideology on others.

PC: Does good governance for you mean compromising with regional parties?
VN: What is wrong with that? After all, we are a growing party. Once upon a time people used to say we were untouchables. Today, there are 13 parties with us.

PC: But you are compromising your political goals.
VN: You have to give a good government. People are tired of the Congress. They have given a mandate for a coalition, it is not an opportunistic alliance.

PC: But you are still being politically opportunistic.
VN: The CPM front is ruling Bengal for the last 22 years. It hasn't given up its ideology. The Forward Bloc, CPI, CPI(M)—they all
ave their ideologies but they exist together. People gave a mandate for a joint coalition. It is our duty, dharma, to run the coalition and prove to the people that you are capable of dong it and wait for the results.

PC: But ultimately you would like to contest elections on your own?
VN: No, as of today, my agenda is a social and political expansion of the party - the Bharatiya Janata to become the real representative of the Bharatiya Janata of all sections. There are certain grey areas -- we are weak among the minorities and among certain areas of the South, East and North-East.

PC: It is not a national party.
VN: We are a national party. But we have to make a choice between parties which are available. In Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, the Congress has hardly any presence. But can you say it is a regional party? There are two national parties: the BJP and the Congress.

PC: What are you aiming for in the next general elections?
VN: The BJP aims at getting 300 seats on its own and a two-third majority with its allies. We had a limited mandate and yet we did well. To fulfill our task we need a full mandate and another five years.

PC: Do you see a realignment of political forces?
VN: Here and there

PC: But you intend to go with the same allies?
VN: We want to take our allies along with us. We have understood each other better than earlier and we want to go forward along with allies.

PC: And the leadership?
VN: As long as Vajpayee is active in public life, he is the leader. He is the leader of India.

PC: You will contest the next elections also under his leadership ?
VN: Yes, definitely.

PC: If you win the election, he will be again the prime minister?
VN: Yes.

PC: There is no succession battle?
VN: There is no battle at all.

PC: It is not in the culture of the BJP but some people say the party president is becoming a sycophant.
VN: I have never been a sycophant. I have not touched the feet of any politician.

PC: But you do touch people's feet.
VN: Here and there some people say that in north India there is a practice of this or that . But I will talk about myself. I don't criticise others.

PC: You are afraid of raising the foreign nationality issue now?
VN: We are not afraid of raising that issue. The issue will be raised by the people at the right time. Unwise people in the Congress like Amarinder Singh are talking about Himachal Pradesh chief minister P.K. Dhumal saying that he was born in East Pakistan. They forget that their own president was born in another country. Who is the president of the Congress party today?

PC: Do you think that a foreign-born person can be the prime minister of the country?
VN: My conviction is that an India-born person must be the prime minister of this country.

PC: So Indians are not likely to accept a foreign-born?
VN: I don't think so. Anyway, it is for the Congress people to worry about that.