Amid a recent influx of Opposition politicians into the BJP, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said that while the party continues to attract rivals, it will never accept Aam Aadmi Party leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, who are facing serious charges of corruption.
Hours after Mr. Kejriwal was released from jail on interim bail in the liquor scam case, Mr. Thakur said in an interview with PTI late on May 10 that Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal has not been absolved of the charges against him and will have to return to jail after June 1 and face trial.
He also accused Mr. Kejriwal of "crushing" the Constitution by not resigning from his post despite being in jail pending trial on serious charges in the liquor excise policy case.
Mr. Thakur said people of the country have seen his alleged corruption and will not support him anymore as he stands exposed before them now.
Mr. Kejriwal was granted bail by the Supreme Court and came out of Tihar Jail on Friday evening and sought people's support in elections after his release.
"People like Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia or Satyendar Jain will never be welcome in the BJP. They will never be able" to come into the BJP, Mr. Thakur told PTI when asked if they would be allowed to join the ruling party at the Centre, as several other leaders of opposition parties have in the past despite not having any ideological leanings.
"He (Kejriwal) has not been cleared or absolved of the charges against him. The charges against him still stand and a case would continue against him in court. He has now got some relief in the wake of elections for 15-20 days. That too is interim relief with several clauses and conditions, as he cannot see or handle files related to his case, cannot comment about the cases against him, cannot visit the secretariat, cannot meet people connected to the liquor scam. After June 1, he has to return back to the jail and surrender," he told PTI.
"All those who are bursting crackers on the release of Arvind Kejriwal, it looks like the opposition is seeking the support of a twig (tinkon ka sahara) before drowning. They all will still drown," the Union Minister claimed.
Asked if he would get public sympathy after he was jailed, Mr. Thakur said people have seen his corruption.
The people have seen that ED summoned him nine times, but he still did not turn up. "It seems there is something fishy. After skipping the summons nine times, he was arrested and is still dilly-dallying. I am saying today, if you have to clear this country of corruption, then decisions have to come early in such matters," he asserted.
Mr. Thakur, who is contesting the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh for the fifth time in a row, also noted that "if anyone has tried to crush the Constitution, it is Arvind Kejriwal".
"Even the creators of the Constitution would have never thought that a chief minister and deputy chief minister would be in jail for corruption and still are reluctant to resign from their posts," he said.
Mr. Kejriwal claimed on May 11 that all Opposition leaders, including West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, will be in jail if the BJP returns to power. He also claimed that the BJP will not remain in power anymore and an INDIA bloc government will be formed soon.
‘No reason for Muslims to be insecure in India since their population growing’
Citing a new report on India’s demographic transition, Mr. Thakur wondered how Muslims can feel insecure in the country, especially when their population has reportedly increased by 45% and they have been equal recipients of government welfare programmes.
A working paper on population trends released recently by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister said the population of majority Hindus declined by 7.82% between 1950 and 2015 while that of Muslims increased by 43.15%, suggesting that there is a conducive environment to foster diversity. It, however, did not give absolute numbers.
In an interview to PTI Mr. Thakur said the minorities are clearly thriving and need not worry.
He also rubbished the opposition’s charge that the BJP would change the Constitution. “On the contrary, the BJP will ensure that reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs is not diluted or altered by anyone.” The four-time MP from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, who is defending his seat against Congress’ Satpal Raizada, accused the party of seeking to take away the reservation meant for SCs/STs/OBCs and provide it to Muslims.
He also alleged that the Congress is aiming to grab the wealth of people and provide the same to Muslims to further its appeasement and vote bank politics.
The Congress has denied these claims, also made by other BJP leaders, as lies and distortion of their manifesto.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also said that he will never allow reservation based on religion by taking away quotas meant for SCs, STs and OBCs, Thakur said.
Asked if there was a need for policy change on population control or a legislation on the issue in the wake of changing demography, Thakur said the new government will discuss the issue and then take a call after discussion as population figures have just come out in public domain.
He said the figures show that the population of Muslims in India has increased by almost 45-47% over 65 years.
“What do these figures indicate. On one side the population of Hindus declined by 7.8% and on the other hand the population of Muslims increased by 45-47 per cent. One has to ponder over the reasons behind this.
In Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, the population of Hindus was 23 per cent in 1947, now they are only 2 per cent left. And still, some people in India say Muslims are insecure. Their population has increased by 45%, still they say they are insecure,” he said.
“How are they insecure? We never said vote for us out of compulsions, we have not indulged in any vote bank politics. We freed Muslim women of the scourge of triple talaq, we have also provided Muslims women with pukka houses, toilets and free (cooking gas) cylinders, besides free medical treatment even if they have eight children. They have also benefited from our schemes,” the Minister said.
On the Constitution, he told PTI, “There will be no change of Constitution.” He said the BJP has been in power for the last 10 years while wielding absolute majority in Parliament. Still, it has not made any Constitutional amendment, Thakur said.
“It is the Congress which has amended the Constitution all the time. Besides, the Congress insulted Babasaheb Ambedkar, who gave us this Constitution, and even worked to send him out of politics. The Congress also did not give him honour,” he alleged.
Instead, he said, it was Narendra Modi who made ‘paanch teerth’ at Nagpur, Mhow, Mumbai, Delhi and England in honour of Babasaheb Ambedkar and began marking Constitution Day on November 26, besides declaring a holiday on Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14.
“I want to tell this country and the youth that it was Indira Gandhi who murdered democracy and if anyone has tried to crush the Constitution, it is Arvind Kejriwal,” Thakur said.
“Even the creators of the Constitution would have never thought that a chief minister and deputy chief minister would be in jail for corruption and still are reluctant to resign from their posts,” Mr. Thakur added.
Mr. Thakur also reeled out government statistics to support his view that the BJP government has consistently worked during the last 10 years for the poor, especially the backward class and castes.
Out of four crore houses made under the PM Awas Yojna by PM Modi, as many as 58 per cent houses were made for SC/STs, he said.
He also cited the Rs 6,000 annual dole given to farmers, of which a majority of the beneficiaries are SC/ST and OBC category people.
Mr. Thakur noted that four crore houses, 12 crore toilets, 13 crore water connections and 10 crore free cooking gas cylinders were provided to people, as well as free medical treatment to 60 crore people and free ration to 80 crore people.
“These people (opposition) are spreading fear, misconceptions and rumours that SC/ST reservation will go, but the truth is that wherever the Congress governments came, in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, they took away SC/ST quota and gave to Muslims and are creating fear among SC/STs,” Mr. Thakur said.
The senior BJP MP said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wants a survey that will lead to wealth redistribution. “This is appeasement politics which the Congress started, not us,” he said.
“We have done ‘Sabka Vikas’ and did not do Hindu-Muslim, and we will carry on doing work like this in future. But when these people say such things for votes that they will give to Muslims, then we raise questions that they try to insult Hindus and talk of crushing Sanatan and talk of giving resources to Muslims,” Mr. Thakur said.
