Before leaving for Bihar to strengthen his Opposition Unity, former JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav spoke to News 18.com’s Eram Agha on setting up an SIT under a Supreme Court judge to probe the Nirav Modi-PNB scam. He said that a scam as huge as this cannot take place without government’s knowledge. Confident about the win of the Opposition Unity, Yadav is also anxious that if BJP comes to power in 2019, ‘loktantra’ (democracy) will be in grave danger.
Excerpts
For building Opposition Unity you keep travelling. You are again going to Bihar. Could you tell us about this visit?
I travel all over the country for bolstering our opposition unity and whenever I get time I go to Bihar. This is the fifth time I am going to Bihar. That’s where 11 crore people voted for the ‘mahagathbandhan’ and defeated the BJP. But what happened to them? Today, there is no one to speak for them.
After voting for the grand alliance, the people of Bihar were cheated. Those people (Nitish Kumar) joined the BJP and showed disrespect towards the public verdict. That vote, which was cast in our favour, was misused. I want to be sure that in the coming days they don’t repeat the same thing and that’s why I keep going there. This is my way of revolting against the ‘vishwasghaath’ (deceit) done to the people. Seven times I fought elections from Bihar. It is a forty-year-long association. I am travelling continuously to strengthen our opposition unity.
Are you satisfied with the way the Opposition Unity is shaping up?
I am giving you the figures. The first ‘Sanjha Virasat Sammelan was held in Delhi and 19 parties participated in it. In Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, 17 parties joined us in the movement. In Rajasthan’s Jaipur there were 16 parties along with the farmer outfits. Similarly, the sammelan in Maharashtra (Shankaracharya) had 18 parties and labuor unions. Recently Sonia Gandhi ji called the meeting of the Opposition and it was a success. In every corner there was support for us, ‘kaam ho raha hai’ (the work is under progress).
How important were Gujarat elections for your movement and what do you have to say about the elections slated in other states?
Gujarat was important but now it’s gone. There are others lined up. They will lose Karnataka. For anyone on the ground, it is the writing on the wall. The public is outpouring its dissatisfaction over this government on social media, and we are tapping it all. The question today is not just about elections. The question is that the country is in danger. If they come to power in 2019, ‘loktantra’ (democracy) will be destroyed. What do we have today in the name of governance, nothing but just ‘rath yatras’ and attacks on Taj Mahal. They have given us ‘love jihad’ and ‘ghar wapsi’. Somebody should ask them about their promises on employment and bringing Rs 15 lakh in bank accounts.
On the other hand, we have the biggest bank scam, and this cannot happen without the government being in the know. I demand that there should be an SIT with experts and economists, which should be headed by an SC Judge to probe the case.
What do you have to say about the left unity? There are differences over Congress between Sitaram Yechury and Prakash Karat.
It is their party affair so I won’t talk much on it. But left movement has always done things in the favour of the people. Their debate, differences are healthy and come with positive discourse. The results of differences are good in the left circle. Things are still not final though, they are working things out. But I know one thing intellectuals take good decisions. Keep public interest in mind – ‘Yahan bhi thik faisla hoga’ (there will be a fair decision here as well).
It is believed that anti-BJP unity works in favour of BJP – like it did in Uttar Pradesh 2017 elections.
I don’t agree because in Bihar the ‘mahagathbandhan’ won but the people of Bihar were cheated.
There have been speculations on early elections …
Let that happen – you can hold elections whenever you want. The Opposition Unity is ready for the battle. People also know that this is the corporate sarkar, which has overthrown the constitution.
For quite some time the political discussions in the House are about the characters from the epics of Mahabharatha and Ramayana. We have heard Shalya and Shrupnakaha. Does BJP remind you of any character from the epics?
These are dead epics. Yeh toh guppe hain (This is non-serious talk). If they want to talk about something then they should talk about the Constitution. They will never discuss the inclusive spirit of the Constitution. Our country is as diverse and big as a continent. Mahabharat, Ramayana are tales, we cannot place it in the same way as the Constitution. The people have voted for you to give them jobs and not for these bhadhads.
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