Lok Sabha Election 2019: Issues of national importance like nationalism, safety and security of the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s track record of development in last five years will decide the election in national capita Delhi, says Vijay Goel, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and veteran BJP leader in the city-state. In an exclusive interview to Financial Express Online’s Krishnanand Tripathi, Goel said neither Congress nor Aam Admi Party is in a position to give a tough fight to the BJP in Delhi. Edited excerpts:
Q: How the BJP will fare in the three-cornered contest in Delhi?
A: I think the BJP is going to do very well in Delhi because of two reasons, first people want to vote for Narendra Modi and they want him to become Prime Minister again, and there are national issues like safety and security of the country. Third thing, we’re fighting this election on the development work of Prime Minister Modi. In Delhi, there is a triangular fight and in this triangular fight BJP is certainly going to win.
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Q: Your party is fighting battle against a tough opponent, Aam Admi Party, that handed down a massive defeat to your party BJP in 2015 assembly elections?
A: Neither Aam Admi Party nor the Congress is strong enough to give a fight to BJP in Delhi. You’re talking about assembly elections, after the assembly elections BJP rooted Aam Admi Party and Congress very badly in MCD elections and we won all the three corporations in Delhi. Presently the mood is in our favour.
Q: In the last election, your party was able to sweep the entire Hindi heartland, it’s difficult to go beyond that. What is your party’s strategy to form the government if the number of seats come down?
A: Firstly, there was anti-incumbency against the Congress in the last election. We’re going to fight this election on the issue of development work of Modi government in last five years. Secondly, in those states where we are at the saturation point, if we lose one or two seats in those states then we will definitely gain more seats in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and specially in North-Eastern areas. So we will cover for these seats (loss of seats) from these states.
Q: But your party faced opposition because of Citizenship Amendment Bill. Your party faced opposition as some people’s sentiments were hurt? A: Our party is pushing the Citizens Amendment Bill. We believe that this bill is in the country’s interest and we are going to pursue it in the next parliament.
Q: How many seats you hope to win West Bengal and Odisha? A: I think we are going to win a sizeable number of seats. Now there is a competition between the TMC and CPM. We have already become the number two party in the state (West Bengal), we are going to win maximum number of seats. Q: There are instances of political violence in West Bengal. Several of your party workers have been killed in political violence in the state in the last two-three years. How do you plan to cope up with this kind of situation? A: Now Mamata Didi is doing violent politics, this is neither good for the country nor for the state. People are going to teach them a lesson and the BJP is going to win in West Bengal.
