‘Seeking votes in name of Modi govt’s good work’

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s state co-incharge Vijaya Rahatkar has been overseeing the party’s programmes and campaigns for the past 18 months in Rajasthan. In an interview with Urvashi Dev Rawal, Rahatkar, who is also the party’s former Mahila Morcha national president, talks about the challenges faced by the party in the Lok Sabha elections, the work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party’s efforts to win all seats in the state for the third time in a row. Edited excerpts:

The BJP won all 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan in 2014 and 2019 mainly on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face. On what planks is BJP fighting the elections this time?

We are going into the elections on the basis of the work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, the promises fulfilled and the guarantee of further development and far reaching legislative decisions.In the last two elections — 2014 and 2019 — the people have voted for PM Modi because he brought a new hope and the BJP government’s performance.

How is PM Modi’s approach different from other leaders?

We have seen that other political parties and leaders make promises during elections, but the work on ground is slow and only some promises are fulfilled.

They do not have a long term vision. Modi has brought a fundamental change in that and the empowerment he is doing is irreversible.

The Modi government has secured the country’s borders, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the government provided free ration which is still continuing, the country developed its own vaccines and people were vaccinated free of cost, our culture, heritage and traditions are being revived and celebrated. People compare the track record of earlier governments and the Modi government and so they have faith in him.

The Congress has accused BJP of making false promises and giving empty slogans related to employment and inflation. How do you react to these charges?

As we are a nation with a huge population of youngsters, employment is an important issue. According to EPFO statistics, every year around 15 million new jobs are being created. This is because economy has expanded with rapid speed.

With a rapid growth in GDP under Modi, we hope, the PM’s third term will handle this sensitive issue with more vigour. The latest data shows that retail inflation eased to a 10-month low of 4.85% in March. Due to reduction in fuel and oil prices, food inflation has also softened. For farmers, the Modi government is providing income support in the form of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi and there are a host of other schemes for the benefit of farmers. So, oppositions claims are wrong, baseless and not based on facts.

The BJP often claims that Modi has managed to overcome the caste factor in Indian politics. But even in the this election we see that BJP cannot ignore caste arithmetic. How is the party dealing with that?

Caste is a sensitive issue in India. Modi has said for the BJP there are only four castes— poor, women, youth and farmers. There are people from all castes in these four groups. The Modi government is providing welfare schemes and designing policies for the four groups so they are reaching out to all castes and communities.

As a woman politician, how do you think the women’s reservation law will help women?

The women’s reservation law is revolutionary in many ways. It will bring social, economic and political development of women.