You say there is no wave, I say there is strong undercurrent: Rajyavardhan

Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs, and Information and Broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Rathore, is seeking re-election from Jaipur Rural constituency. During a full day of hectic campaigning, he speaks to Arup Roychoudhury on the government’s record and the opposition’s allegations. Excerpts:

The sense in these parts is that you are considered a strong candidate who has worked for the constituency. Yet you aren’t speaking about your work at all, and are addressing people in the Prime Minister’s name.

You don’t speak about the work done, because you have already spoken about it in the last five years. There is a theme for everything. When I say Modi, it is synonymous with a lot of things. Like decisiveness, a greater India, empowering the people. We have data to prove how the central government’s schemes have reached every panchayat. Be it houses, toilets, gas cylinders, rural roads. The female members of the households swear by Modi. They say ‘Modi ko phir se laana hain’. Modi is not one man. Modi is a message. It is the work that he has delivered. When you are campaigning and when you reach out to the hearts and minds of the people, there is a way of packaging that.

Has the theme of nationalism resonated with voters?

Absolutely. When I tell people we have to make a stro­nger India, voters understand that. I don’t have to say Balakot. I don’t even have to talk about surgical strikes.

Your opponent, Krishna Poonia, is a sports icon like yourself and also comes from one of the largest voter block in Jaipur Rural, the Jats.

When the media writes about a certain community going a certain way, you are taking away their ability to choose what they want for this country. And it isn’t a concept separated from them. They are the country. You are taking away their intelligence to choose who is right. I know for a fact that many people across communities don’t like it when you count them as a votebank. We are progressing towards a more intelligent electorate, and they don’t accept themselves as votebank.

Two of three main planks of the Congress and the Opposition are unemployment and farm distress. How would you respond to that?

For a growing country with the largest population of youth and a very large rural sector, the fact is that for the last 50 years, not much was done for them. When your country is growing, you need to plan and deliver. You did not create the necessary infrastructure and the commiserate jobs, which should already have been built up. You can’t turn around and point fingers now. It has been the Congress’ complacence and misgovernance for years that has resulted in these situations. Our government is moving ahead in a planned manner for every segment. Working for a pink paper, you would know what schemes we have launched to minimise farm distress. We are skilling the youth, providing them with the supporting infrastructure. We are providing them Mudra loans. We are building brand India, along with good governance. We have been building infrastructure at a rapid pace. So, jobs are being created there. There is no question of jobless growth.  

What about the allegations of crony-capitalism, including the Rafale deal?

Different, well-respected institutions have called their bluff, again and again. If they refuse to accept it, they are bringing down the stature of these institutions. The Rafale is not an issue at all.

Do you think the BJP will be able to repeat its perfor­mance of a clean sweep in Rajasthan, like in 2014?

People who are not connected to the ground, may feel that there is no wave, or the wave is not like 2014. But there is a major difference. You see the wave only as an outsider now. There is an undercurrent. It is very large and silent. It is stronger than 2014. In 2014, people did not know how Modi would deliver. Now they do.