Not impossible to get Muslims to support BJP, says Barner candidate Manvendra Singh

Journalist-turned-politician Manvendra Singh is the BJP candidate contesting the shoe assembly Barmer district in the Rajasthan assembly elections, to be held on December 1. Manvendra had won the Barmer-Jaisalmer seat in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Dressed in a white kurta-pajama and donning a colourful headgear, the son of senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh, talks to dna’s Iftikhar Gilani about his constituency and the local issues.

dna: What is the difference in strategy and approach to campaigning for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections?
Manvendra: Since the voter population for an Assembly constituency is smaller, the attention given to each voter is high. The focus is on having as many meetings as possible with different communities. It is like contesting at national level and then coming to the panchayat level. Because the issues you confront, the manner of campaigning is comparable to panchayat elections. In this area, you cover 10-12 panchayats in a day for a Lok Sabha elections, and keeping in view the distances here, you cover 3-4 panchayats in a day.

dna: What are the people’s issues in this region and how do you intend to resolve them?
Manvendra: The foremost issue here is drinking water. We need to bring canal water to this region. In the last election, I had promised to provide 24-hour drinking water and reopening of a train route linking India and Pakistan. While the former is pending, the train route has been achieved.

dna: There were complaints in your constituency, Barmer, that relatives from across the border are not allowed to visit villages beyond NH-15.
Manvendra: Yes. This is an issue here, and also the reason why we envy Kashmir, where families can meet without having a passport. We hope to replicate the same convenience here, and also make it easier for people to travel by train. But to enable this, we will require a change in the Central government in Delhi, and we hope that happens.

dna: Border areas have peculiar problems. How are those issues panning out here?
Manvendra: Yes, the border areas are peculiar. And especially so if the border is with Pakistan and China. Security agencies, intelligence agencies and the military are overactive here. Our movement is not restricted, but it is monitored to a certain degree. People are aware of that. But other than that, there is no threat of any trans-border terrorism or infiltration here. This border was earlier a route for smuggling goods. But ever since fencing has come up, smuggling has reduced. Also, this region has the highest number of divided families, and these include both Hindus and Muslims. We have to therefore facilitate the interaction between families. You can deny your history, your identity, but you cannot deny geography. That is unchangeable.

dna: This region has a sizeable Muslim population. Traditionally, there is a historic disconnect between Muslim voters and the BJP. Do you feel this may play up against you?
Manvendra: I don’t think that the negative sentiment is against me. Getting Muslims to support a BJP candidate is not an impossible task. You need to be free and fair with everybody. Muslims want fair treatment and if you treat them as equal citizens, they will respond equally. I don’t patronise them. Unfortunately, that is what the so-called secular politicians do.

dna: Having interacted with people here, I do observe that Muslims find BJP as an alternative in this state. Why is the BJP not able to replicate this in other states?
Manvendra: Muslims here have risen over sectarian politics. They will not vote for a weak Muslim candidate, but prefer a performing, non-Muslim candidate instead. If you treat them equally, they will live equally. Socially, Rajasthan has a better social fabric here. I do hope other states are able to replicate this.

dna: There have been reports of restrictions by environment ministry declaring vast stretches of desert as national parks, companies taking land for power projects and army taking land for firing ranges. Is this a conflicting issue?
Manvendra: This region area is not made for agriculture. Look, those bushes look green, but they are a poisonous shrub, called acacia. Acacia prevents the growth of grass and cattle cannot chew on it. The projects are on grazing land. But that is a reality of change. This happens in any part of the world, and we have to live with this change. You cannot call it encroachment as such. The land has been allotted to companies. The need is to de-weed the land and allow grass to grow, rather than crib against companies that have installed wind and solar farms.