DNA CONVERSATION: ‘Numbers not important, work done is, says Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje

Navigating past the lush green valleys of rain-swept Dungarpur in her swanky rath, chief minister Vasundhara Raje meets the locals who have queued up for miles to greet her and put up their grievances before her. On her third day of the Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra, Raje, in a free-wheeling conversation with Siddhartha Bose, explained her disenchantment with the Congress, clarified her stand on the number game in the upcoming polls and insisted why her government is set to return to power again. 

Excerpts from the conversation…

Siddhartha: You chose to start your poll campaign from the Charbhuja Nath Temple for a third time…

Vasundhara Raje: We did, with the blessings of God and the love of the people. We invested in temples in a systematic manner. 125 temples across Rajasthan have been conserved or refurbished over the last 4-and-a-half years. We have spent an amount of Rs 625 crore on the upkeep of temples and improvement of their infrastructure so the devotees can be serviced better. We have done panoramas. Those panoramas are a testimony to our thriving cultural legacy and we will showcase it to our next generation.

Aren’t you attempting an incredible feat in trying to repeat the impossible numbers of 2013 in the upcoming assembly polls?

I am not into numbers. I am not an expert on that. What we have to ask ourselves is why do people vote? They vote because of the work done, the governance. Our yatra is an embodiment of that faith in the government which is going back to the people to tell them the works we have done for them in this tenure. When I look at the response we are getting (waving to the women, children and elderly standing on the roadside), I know this can be pulled off.

BJP president Amit Shah said the same thing. It takes guts to go back to the people at the end of the tenure…

Yes, Amit Shah Ji spoke of our yatra. We can do that because we have genuinely worked for the people. Trust the Opposition to make tall promises towards the fag end of their tenure which they can never keep. We can’t do that. When prime minister Narendra Modi came to Jaipur to interact with the beneficiaries, the Congress thought there would be party workers at the meet. They were wrong. We reached out to more than 4 crore beneficiaries in Rajasthan. The ones in Jaipur represented them in flesh and blood. 

What do you think of Congress as an Opposition?

I choose not to take any interest in their ramblings. My interest is in getting the work done for people. It is they who matter. Why should I spend my time on thinking about Congress?

The Opposition had at one point, when Ashok Parnami’s successor wasn’t appointed, blamed BJP for its indecisiveness. Now, with Ashok Gehlot and PCC chief locked in bitter battle of supremacy, do you think they are getting a dose of their own medicine?  

All I can say is what goes around comes around. It’s karma.

In your speech at Kankroli from where you flagged of the yatra, you had spoken of women, youth and farmers…

Yes I did. It is because we have done some unbelievable work with them. All three segments… I am going to explain what we did for these segments in the next Aam Sabha at Ghambola.

Your slogan for women: Sarkar apke saath, bachpan se budhape tak is a reflection on the work done?

Of course. From the moment a girl child is born the family gets state assistance, which continues through her schooling, higher education and even in old age. Our government has done the maximum work for women.

How do you see the farmer’s loan waiver scheme has shaped up? 

It has to be understood that the loan waiver scheme for farmers in Rajasthan has not just benefited the farmers, but has also helped write off NPAs of banks and in revitalising them. The small and marginal farmer’s loans have been written off because of the scheme. We didn’t rope in the private banks, but the cooperative banks. With loans written off they are in a position to reloan and improve their business.