National

"Have I Ever Leaked Anything In My Life?"

It was an edgy and beleaguered BJP President who agreed, with great reluctance, to speak to <i>Outlook</i>

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"Have I Ever Leaked Anything In My Life?"
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For Rajnath Singh, winning a Lok Sabha seat for the first time in his political career—from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh—should have been a fitting conclusion to his tenure as BJP president. Instead of enjoying that victory, he finds himself presiding over a party in disarray. It was an edgy Rajnath Singh, therefore, who agreed, with great reluctance, to speak to Outlook. Excerpts:

Your detractors in the BJP say you leaked Yashwant Sinha's letter to the media to damage his prospects; that you deliberately delayed announcing Arun Jaitley's resignation as general secretary to make him look like a dissident.

You know me well—is that my character? Have I ever leaked anything in my life? I do not wish to say anything on the subject.

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Has Jaitley resigned because a lot of BJP leaders have criticised his role as the chief strategist of the party?

(He has done so) in keeping with the one-man, one-post principle in the party. He became Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha on June 4; he quit as general secretary on June 6.

Will he be replaced?

Yes, he can be replaced, but there is no hurry whatsoever.

Suddenly, all your senior leaders have begun criticising the party's functioning in public. What's happened to the discipline the BJP prided itself on?

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I don't agree—there is discipline and there will be discipline in the future.

Jaswant Singh told a TV channel that the BJP must become "a party of the current", a modern party...

Whatever needs to be discussed will be discussed at the party forum.

RSS leader M.G. Vaidya in its Marathi publication Tarun Bharat has accused the BJP of being inconsistent on the issue of Hindutva...

I want to put this bluntly—I still abide by the ideology of Hindutva which I've followed ever since I commenced my political career. And I will remain wedded to Hindutva for all times to come.

Some would argue that the problem with Hindutva is the sort of language Varun Gandhi used in Pilibhit, that it is strident and anti-Muslim in character.

That is not the language of Hindutva. Hindutva cannot create hatred among communities, among people. Hindutva is about Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family).

Many of your partymen are saying that while the BJP can't sever its links with the RSS, it should distance itself from organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal.

The VHP and Bajrang Dal are independent organisations.

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