Balotra, Rajasthan: Defending his decision to rejoin the Bharatiya Janata Party, former MP Manvendra Singh has told ThePrint that he ran out of patience while in the Congress and as circumstances in the BJP changed, he returned to the party.
Manvendra, the son of former BJP minister Jaswant Singh, had left the party in 2018 to join the Congress. Earlier this month, he joined the BJP again ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Rajasthan’s Barmer, where the PM started his speech by remembering the late Jaswant Singh, a tall Rajput leader from the state who rose to prominence in India.
Speaking to ThePrint at a temple Thursday, Manvendra dwelt on his decision to rejoin the BJP and expectations about his role in the party.
“Originally, I was in the BJP and there were circumstances which intervened for the five-year period in the Congress and the circumstances have changed, and I’ve returned to the BJP,” he said.
“I ran out of patience when I was in the Congress. I felt that I was alone and so I had to make my way out to save myself and the family. Since 2018, hindrances and roadblocks have been removed (in the BJP). It’s not in my nature to badmouth somebody; the past is past, you have to move on. And the whole purpose of doing what I am doing is to move on in life,” he explained.
According to Manvendra, joining the BJP was a “family decision”. “Though not everybody is on the same frequency, most of us in the family are and we’ve decided that it’s time to move on and be with the people that we grew up with and who have been extremely warm,” he said.
Explaining his reasons behind joining the Congress, Singh said it was “largely because of my affection and friendship with (senior Congress leader) Rahul Gandhi”.
“He saw me in pretty difficult circumstances, and you know all the harassment that was happening to me and the family (following Jaswant Singh’s expulsion from the BJP in 2014). And his kindness made him intervene and he offered me (party) membership and affection. And that sort of made me join him. So, I joined the party because of him,” Manvendra told ThePrint, adding that despite quitting the Congress, his friendship with Gandhi would remain.
Manvendra further said that Gandhi’s style of functioning and his vision for the Congress and for his politics was not finding traction with certain established state sharks and they were resisting the change that Gandhi wants to institute.
“I would call it generational change, or you could call it cultural change. I think they resist his efforts and that’s why things are not falling in place as far as he’s concerned,” he added.
“That affection (Manvendra’s affection with Gandhi) doesn’t translate on ground in Rajasthan, with various leaders and local sharks resenting direct friendship in Delhi. Local Rajasthan Congress leaders believe that anything (decisions) in Delhi should go through Jaipur and go through them. So there were always some niggling problems for the last five years — policy matters as well as personal matters. And then things changed within the BJP and roadblocks were removed.”
When asked to specify the roadblocks, Manvendra explained: “Roadblocks are always political and those roadblocks were removed and I don’t want to add to more controversy by dropping names.”
When quizzed further about whether the roadblocks referred to former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, he said: “You can interpret roadblocks to be anybody, any person or any group that you want to… so those were removed and the people I largely know in politics were from this lot.”
He further told ThePrint that he has already started campaigning for the BJP. “The (Rajasthan) CM (Bhajanlal Sharma) was candid enough to tell me that I have a larger responsibility than one seat.”
Manvendra also clarified that while there was a lot of speculation about him being fielded for the Lok Sabha elections, he wasn’t “emotionally and physically ready to take on an electoral challenge because I had recently been hospitalised and I am still dependent on physiotherapy”.
Also Read: Modi rallies to return of Jaswant Singh’s son — BJP’s scramble to retain Barmer as rebel queers pitch
‘A new culture of governance’
A nine-time parliamentarian, Jaswant Singh was born in Rajasthan’s Jasol village (part of Barmer district) and went on to win three Lok Sabha elections from the state. He was one of the founding members of the BJP and also the finance, defence and foreign minister of India.
Ten years ago, the BJP expelled Jaswant Singh after he contested as an Independent from Barmer in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Jawant had that year been denied a ticket from the seat due to his rivalry with Vasundhara Raje. He, however, lost to Congress defector Sona Ram who won on the BJP ticket.
Manvendra, who had won Barmer for the BJP in 2004, left the party in 2018 to join the Congress. He tried to claim the seat again on a Congress ticket in 2019 but lost to Kailash Choudhary, who has been renominated as the BJP candidate. Last year, Manvendra also lost the Rajasthan assembly polls and was said to be unhappy in the Congress.
The BJP is now believed to have reinducted Manvendra to improve its prospects in Rajput-dominated constituencies, including Barmer.
“You know the period where he (Jaswant Singh) was denied a ticket after being given assurances and his desire to contest one last time without any other expectations,” said Manvendra, adding that his father’s move was thwarted and the people behind it “instituted a culture which is not there now (in the BJP)”.
Regarding about Bhajanlal Sharma, he said he was quite certain that the Rajasthan CM would be a surprise pick. “The idea was to stamp a new culture of governance. I think Rajasthan is a politically placid state,” he added.
When queried about Raje being sidelined by the BJP, as was being claimed by her supporters, Manvendra asked: “How do you give somebody a major role who has been a chief minister in the state?”
‘Every election is a challenge’
On BJP candidate and Union minister Kailash Choudhary facing a stiff battle in Barmer, Manvendra said that “every election is a challenge for whoever the candidate is, and especially if you are an incumbent (MP) and a minister”.
When asked about the thousands of workers and leaders from the Congress and other parties joining the BJP, he pointed out that technology in the last 10 years had changed politics globally.
“Social media has had a role in diluting the value of ideology and the sheer spectacle of social media creates an aura, which makes that one particular person or that person’s group (look) compelling. In the game of electoral politics where the purpose is to win an election, you look for the best possible situation. And also, I think, you know, some people just lack the patience to sustain their party,” Manvendra said.
On Modi’s tenure at the Centre, he said the image of India under Modi had changed a lot and it was evident in the international accolades won by the PM.
“I think that the biggest change that happened in India since 1947 was the nuclear test of 1998, after which India declared itself a nuclear power. That was the biggest change in terms of foreign policy, security policy, economics and any other policy that you can think of,” Manvendra added.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: BJP’s social engineering in Rajasthan — why the party chose Bhajanlal Sharma as CM