BJP national general secretary CT Ravi is certain that things are looking brighter for the saffron party in South India.
Party in-charge of crucial states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Goa, Ravi believes that with the BJP back in the governing coalition in Maharashtra and in government in Goa, the time is ripe for it to expand in Tamil Nadu.
In an interview with South First, Ravi spoke about the BJP’s expansion plans in the southern states, the Congress’ desertion problem, and why he believes a split in the AIADMK would impact the BJP’s polls prospects as well.
From booth committees to page committees
In 2018, the BJP introduced the concept of “Panna pramukh” — a page volunteer to keep grassroots-level track of voters on every page of the electoral rolls. Four years hence, the party has developed that concept.
“Previously, we had booth-level committees. Now we are setting up page-level committees. We are appointing three to seven members for each page of the electoral rolls,” Ravi explained.
The BJP in Telangana under Bandi Sanjay Kumar is quite active with yatras, offline and online campaigns, and a series of public speeches.
In poll-bound Karnataka, however, the party is yet to begin its election campaign. Although delayed on the campaign front, Ravi isn’t too worried.
“A good student studies every day and keeps himself updated and doesn’t really take special risks when the exam nears. Just like that, the BJP too doesn’t do election management only when the polls arrive. We work 24×7,” Ravi said.
Eye on Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala
His eyes are firmly set on Tamil Nadu. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emotionally connected with the people of Tamil Nadu,” Ravi insisted when asked if the saffron party was struggling to take on the strong Dravidian sentiment in the state.
“Annamalai is doing very good work on the ground. More than 73 percent of citizens in the state are beneficiaries of Central government schemes,” he added, mentioning the Tamil Nadu BJP president by name.
The confidence, however, doesn’t mean the BJP has no issues in Tamil Nadu — a state where it is depending on Hindutva to counter Dravidianism.
“The split in the AIADMK will definitely affect poll prospects, but we are focused on strengthening our party. A decision will come from the central leadership when elections are around the corner,” Ravi insisted.
The national general secretary of the BJP was confident that the saffron party would establish its influence in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Telangana, apart from returning to power in Karnataka.
Identity crisis in Congress
Despite not being successful in emerging as even the second-largest party in any southern state except Karnataka, the BJP has been capturing the space that is being increasingly ceded by the Congress.
“Rahul Gandhi goes to church and calls himself a Roman Catholic. He then goes to Uttar Pradesh for elections and calls himself a Brahmin. He then comes to Chitradurga and gets Linga Deekshe. He is confused about who he is. We have no such confusion,” Ravi said, before insisting that everyone living in India is Hindu and Hindutva and Indianness are one and the same thing.
“We do our politics on cultural nationalism and development. We have great clarity. If there is polarisation because of that, then others can do it too,” Ravi said, adding that leaders of other parties, including the Congress, had started claiming to be Hindu because of the BJP’s Hindutva push.
On allegations of BJP toppling governments
Even as Delhi MLAs accuse the saffron party of attempting to “buy” them, Ravi defended the party. The BJP has been repeatedly accused of toppling governments and indulging in horse-trading of MLAs.
“In 2019, the people of Maharashtra voted for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance. The Shiv Sena broke away. We had to counter politics with politics, and we did,” Ravi said on the BJP breaking up the Shiv Sena to come to power.
“In Bihar, despite winning 77 seats, we accepted Nitish Kumar — whose party JD(U) won only 45 seats — as chief minister. It was Nitish Kumar who backstabbed us. You will see a response to it soon,” Ravi said, adding that the AAP MLAs in Delhi were making allegations to divert attention from the excise policy scam.
“There is a scam there and it won’t stop with Manish Sisodia. It will reach Arvind Kejriwal. Kejriwal is the mastermind of this scam,” Ravi alleged.
Justifying defections, Ravi said it was simply politics. “Earlier, it was the Congress that attracted people from other parties — like Siddaramaiah, who was in JD(S). Since the BJP is in power, now the BJP is attracting MLAs. Ultimately, even those joining us are facing people in elections. People have voted them to power,” Ravi pointed out.
‘Congress nod to Partition was Bharat Todo’
Mocking the Congress for planning a “Bharat Jodo Yatra”, Ravi said the party was a divided house that needed to be put in order first. He pointed to the recent resignation of Ghulam Nabi Azad to prove his point.
“The Congress is the party that assented to Partition and divided the country right before Independence. What sense does it make for the same party to launch a ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’? What Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing with schemes is the real Bharat Jodo,” Ravi argued.
“Even when people from other parties join us, they bow to our ideology and democratic processes. We are not dictated to by dynasty powers like in the Congress,” he added.
Chief-ministerial ambitions
“Whatever I say will turn controversial now,” a smiling Ravi told South First when asked if he was aiming to be chief minister of Karnataka. “My goal is to bring the party back to power and I will work as a karyakarta,” he said.
Returning to power in Karnataka is proving to be a herculean task for the BJP, given anti-incumbency, dissent within the party, and the lack of its presence in key regions.
“The BJP has to cross the halfway mark in 59 seats of the Old Mysuru region to have any real chance of winning more vote share than the Congress. We have to cultivate leadership in districts like Mandya, Hassan, Ramanagara, Bengaluru Rural, Kolar, and Chikkaballapur,” Ravi explained.
