‘Wasn’t being able to fulfil aspirations of people’
New Delhi: Jitin Prasada, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday, spoke to Sunetra Choudhury about the timing of his move, why he chose the BJP, and while refusing to blame individuals in the Congress, talked about the general disconnect between the party and the people in of UP. Edited excerpts:
The move doesn’t come as much of a surprise. You almost joined the BJP in 2019 and then held back — what changed since then?
It’s not about surprises, but in the last two years, I have been travelling across the country and in my interactions with people, I began to realise that I’m not being able to fulfil the expectations of the very people I promised to work for. When you see a dilution in that, you start feeling the organisation that you belong to is not being able to fulfil the expectations of people, especially in the state I come from.
How long have you been feeling like this?
It’s not about a particular time, it’s about a series of election defeats, interactions with people, their suggestions and their talk; they reach out to you to for help and work but you are
not able to fulfil it. That’s when you have to take a decision.
Did the BJP approach you or did you approach them?
It’s not about who approached whom. I’m not going to tell you other than it’s a decision that I’m very happy to have taken. I’m happy to be part of a party that’s the only national party that exists in India. It functions on an institutional basis rather than on whims and fancies that revolve around a particular person.
Are you referring to the people in charge — Sonia Gandhi, or Rahul Gandhi?
I am talking about the parties in general, not a particular party.
You talked about successive defeats...
Defeats and wins are part of politics. I am talking about the distancing at large from the people of a political party, especially in my state. The disconnect has led to serious defeats and it isn’t being course corrected.
When you talk about disconnect, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is the state in-charge and she has been trying since 2019 to revive the Congress. Is this an indictment of her?
I am not talking about just the last two years. I’m talking of what’s happened over the years ....
You are joining the BJP at a difficult time since in your state, their leaders have criticised the handling of Covid.
They have voiced their concerns, but as far as I’m concerned, I am going to work for the party and we are going to see elections in Uttar Pradesh soon. Apart from that, I am looking at doing whatever they decide to put me to work.