The Rediff Interview/Murli Manohar Joshi

'The hope that the BJP can come to power has brought many supporters. And along the way, it has brought in the viruses of the self-seekers'

Coming to Uttar Pradesh, why is it that you have been advocating support to the BSP?

It is not the question of my advocating it. The party as such as decided first, to have a BJP government, and second, a coalition.

There should be a government in the state. Three months have passed since the elections and there is no government. It is one-sixth of India and it has been under President's Rule for four years except for Mayawati and Mulayam Singh's government. Governor's Rule is despotic and developmental work is suffering.

You want to call Romesh Bhandari a despot?

(Laughs). It is a despotic rule in the sense that there is no accountability.

But that is true of all Governor's Rule. This one particularly...

We have only seen him for a few months, but I don't find much difference between him and other governors.

Do you think that Bhandari should step down voluntarily?

I don't expect this from any governor.

If you were the governor, would you have resigned by now?

I would have sworn in a government.

About the BSP-BJP alliance, is it desirable to accept Kanshi Ram's conditions?

We have not said anything like that. The party has merely authorised Vajpayee to explore the possibilities of a coalition with the BSP.

But until the party took a decision, what was your view?

I had said that in order to form a government in UP, one of the possible ways is to support the BSP.

But considering the fiasco the last time., how can you be in favour of the alliance?

UP must have a government. Secondly, if Mayawati is supported by the BJP, its alliance with the Congress (my most potent rival) is snapped. Besides, the alliance will also help us in Punjab.

But don't you think the people of UP deserve better?

They should have voted better. (Laughs).

What makes you so sure that he alliance with Mayawati will work this time?

It may not even work this time. But one has to move on. Politics is a dynamic phenomenon.

The only other solution is to go back to the supreme arbiters. But that's a very costly and impractical solution if it is repeated every three months in a country like this.

Doesn't it bother you that after successive governments by Mulayam Singh and Mayawati, the people of UP haven't changed their minds. Isn't this a failure of the BJP?

The best thing would have been to hold the assembly and Lok Sabha elections together, but they opposed it.

The BJP won 240 seats and after seeing the potential of the party, attempts were made to see that the BJP loses. Here the administration was responsible. In fact, in 15 or 20 seats that the party lost, there were complaints of administrative irregularities.

If there is a re-election, do you think the BJP will do better?

Once the people realise that if they don't give a majority to any party, they will be denied of a government, the BJP will not be short of a majority.

Moreover, we also have to be careful in managing the elections.

You fought a bad campaign?

To be honest, there were several shortcomings. They cost us 10 to 12 seats.

At the national level, it is said that the BJP has lost its way. Hindutva is on the back-burner and swadeshi has lesser impact. Instead, the new face of the party is Pramod Mahajan.

It is a complex situation. The party is growing. I don't agree that the BJP has lost its way. The hope that the BJP can come to power has brought a large number of supporters. And along the way, it has brought in the viruses of the self-seekers.

But should you have let them in?

When a person comes into the party, he is expected to have understood the party's culture and style of functioning. But, many of them have brought in their habits and hence this problem has arisen.

On the other hand, there is Kushabhau Thakre, Govindacharya or Sunder Singh Bhandari. One should see their lifestyle.