PM Modi’s language shows his arrogance says Virbhadra Singh

A day before the polls CM Virbhadra Singh is taking a break from his continuous campaign trail at Holly Lodge in Shimla, before he takes off for Rampur to cast his vote in the wee hours of Thursday. Most of his travel is by road, believing his 83 years. He says that the BJP has taken the debate to a crude level and that the Congress will be back for another term. Edited excerpts of an interview with dna.

The BJP has been attacking you on the grounds of corruption.

This house, built in 1880, belongs to my father, as does the vast ancestral properties that was passed on to me, while the BJP is saying that I am corrupt. In their own party, former CM PK Dhumal’s son, Anurag Thakur, started the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association and his father passed on some prime land. They ran it as a family business. In Shimla, Dhumal passed on the grounds of the British-era government school in Lalpani for the association. Even the finance minister, who was involved in cricket with the DGCA, has cases against him. In my case, the same issue is looked after by the Income Tax department, CBI and ED. If this is not persecution, what is it. I’m not going to bow down.

The language that the PM used while attacking the Congress has been quite strong; he’s called the Congress ‘termites’ and likened the party to ‘demons’.

One does not expect such rude behaviour and crude language from a PM. For example, in a poll rally he said, “What is Congress. ‘Gandi keera’ hai.” We haven’t resorted to that sort of language; this is crass politics. Congress has a history of over a century, and to liken us to insects shows the arrogance of the PM. The power has gone to his head.

Do you think that the Kotkhai rape and murder incident could have been dealt with differently?

I sympathise with the family as their daughter has been brutally raped and murdered. Yet the government did what was possible. The day after the incident, I wrote personally to the PM saying that the case be referred to the CBI, and also called the union home minister. So many months have passed, there has been no findings and the High Court has rapped them on it. The BJP has been unscrupulous and have used it to build a political movement. A few days after the incident at the Kotkhai PS, the BJP leaders gave an instigating speech, vandalised the newly-constructed office and attacked the store room and the record room which housed files of the station for decades. What form of a protest is that.

You are one of the senior most people from the Congress. And there has been an exodus of senior party leaders. Why is that so?

I don’t know, everyone has their own reasons. I joined the party in 1961, and soon became an MP from Mahasu. I keep my personal life and beliefs away from my politics, I believe in clean politics based on issues. The political stage is not meant for venting or anger.

There has been a lot of talk about Rahul Gandhi taking over as vice-president. What do you think of him as a leader?

Somebody has to head the party, and he’s eligible to become President when the seat will be vacant.

Is this election more about Virbhadra Singh versus Prem Kumar Dhumal or it is a battle between the Congress and the BJP? Do you think it would have been any different if JP Nadda was selected as CM candidate?

It is a battle between the parties. There’s no personal fight, at least so fast as I am concerned. We have no accused anybody and have carried this campaign as cleanly as possible.

I don’t think the difference would have been significant, whether it is Nadda or Dhumal or Shanta Kumar, it doesn’t matter. The Congress will come back to power.

The Congress has been attacking the BJP on the implementation of the GST. And it is a year since demonetization was declared.

These are valid arguments, people in every sort of trade and industry are talking in the same terms as us. We are echoing the same concerns. In Himachal Pradesh, there are many farmers, and they have been severely affected. The time is gone when parties threw money to people and buy their votes, the people of Himachal have always been politically aware.