Romantic 60s hero Rajesh Khanna is an angry middle-aged man at the moment. Promised a Rajya Sabha seat from Delhi, he was recalled from the United States to file his nomination papers but was told at the last minute that the seat had gone to someone else. In a tit for tat, he embarrassed the Congress by not filing his nomination for the Kannauj byelection after his name had been announced. In an interview with Bhavdeep Kang, he vents his grievances against the Congress president. Excerpts:
You had agreed to fight the Kannauj byelection not once but three times, so why did you chicken out?
I said ‘yes’ to Salman Khursheed (UPCC chief) not thrice, but five times. I told him I’d fight but that 10, Janpath would have to speak to me. There were three calls from him on January 8 and the next day was the last for nominations. I got a call at 9 pm from George saying madam wanted to speak with me and to call back at midnight. I was outside Bombay and returned only at 2 am. That very day was the nomination.
Why were you so insistent that 10, Janpath speak to you?
Because in the last election, it was 10, Janpath who told me not to fight Lok Sabha. So that I would not stick to one seat and campaign all over the country. In the assembly elections in 1998, I campaigned for the Congress in Orissa’s coastal belt and we won an unprecedented number of seats there. J.B. Patnaik came to my house to thank me personally. In the Lok Sabha polls, I covered 110 meetings for 90 candidates, including 11 for Dr Karan Singh. I could have contested myself. My very dear friend Digvijay Singh wanted me to contest from Madhya Pradesh and Madhavrao Scindia wanted me to contest from Maharashtra.
Did you back out of Kannauj because you did not want to take on Mulayam Singh’s son?
No. He’s a great friend and so is Amar Singh. But that was not the reason.
Are you miffed mainly because you haven’t got a seat in the Rajya Sabha?
I was asked to campaign for the assembly elections in Delhi, which I did. I was told they would get me into Rajya Sabha. Let me stress: I was promised a Rajya Sabha seat from Delhi by the Congress president herself. And there is no one above the Congress president. What is a Rajya Sabha seat to Rajesh Khanna? It is the masses who have made me what I am. I am a Congressman at heart but every person has some self-respect. Don’t insult us, don’t humiliate us.
Aren’t you campaigning in the assembly elections this time?
George rang me up and said 10, Janpath wanted to speak to me. This time I said I’m not interested.
When will you make up your mind about joining another party? Both Amar Singh and Madan Lal Khurana are pursuing you.
It is the Congress president who has to make up her mind. But let me tell you, the only thing I am not open to is humiliation. On one side is the messiah of the Muslims (Samajwadi Party), on the other the saffron flag (the BJP). Khuranaji is a good friend. I shared platforms with him even as a Congress MP because he did a lot for my constituency when he was chief minister. The party I join should be like-minded but I believe that the NDA is a democratic one. It is not a government of RSS. It is implementing Congress policies. It’s not a Hindu party, but a secular front.
What does the future hold for the Congress?
Just wait for these three assembly elections. Mahatma Gandhi’s first reaction after Independence was to call for wrapping up the party. Unki yeh khwaish, yeh tamanna, Congress poori kar rahi hai (The Congress seems to be fulfilling that desire of Gandhi’s). Now the welfare of the country and the people is not the leadership’s priority-it is self-preservation. Those who were outside the door during Rajiv Gandhi’s time have not only wormed their way in, but occupy places of honour on the sofas.
What does that say about Sonia Gandhi as a leader?
She is a fine person and learning fast. But we are running out of time. The people around her have put her in an ivory tower, just as they did with Rajiv Gandhi. This is history being repeated. But after he lost an election, he learnt.
Do you think Sharad Pawar’s return would help the party?
He is a great politician and a true Maratha warrior. But does it make sense that we should form a government in Maharashtra with people whom we threw out of the party?
Are you primarily a Neta, or an Abhineta?
I can’t dismantle one from the other. I have seen both sides of life-the make-believe world of films and the stark reality of the remote places where I have campaigned. I have seen how the poor struggle for basic necessities. Is this the 50 years of achievement of the Congress?
