Begusarai, on the northern bank of Ganga in Bihar, was swept off its feet by the Modi wave in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. This time, however, the constituency is seeing a tough three-cornered fight between BJP's Giriraj Singh, CPI's Kanhaiya Kumar and RJD's Tanveer Hassan.
MSME minister Singh has been controversy's favourite child in the past. He feels his incendiary brand of politics will fetch him votes, and reiterates to THE WEEK that those “singing praises of Pakistan should take a visa and go there”.
Excerpts:
Why was there delay in you accepting the shift of constituency from Nawada to Begusarai?
My concerns have been addressed by party president Amit Shah. I was not angry. I am an old party worker, and it is not for the first time I have come here. I have been trying to contest from Begusarai since 1996, but the seat was allotted to the alliance partner. Last time it was given to Bhola Singh (who is no more alive), as he was the MP from Nawada and he wanted to shift to Begusarai. So, the party honoured it. I went to Nawada and won by a huge margin. I tried to win people's heart there. I was pained when they shifted me to Begusarai without taking me into confidence. Now, it is a matter of honour to contest from here.
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What will you do for Begusarai?
The first chief minster of Bihar, Krishan Singh, had given Begusarai a refinery, fertilizer plant and thermal plant. But there had been a demand since 1984 to set up a petrochemical complex. We will complete it, and also build highways.
Who do you think is your main opponent—RJD's Tanveer Hassan or CPI's Kanhaiya Kumar?
There was this talk of grand alliance in the country, but it couldn't materialise. So, I think it is an ideological battle—between cultural nationalism and depraved nationalism. They ask for proof for surgical strike and air strike. They hug separatists. The people with such mentality have failed in grand alliance. They don't have any leadership, their sole purpose is to defeat Narendra Modi. But we believe in sabka saath, sabka vikas.
Nationalism gained momentum after Jawaharlal Nehru University incident.
No, depraved nationalism was witnessed in JNU. This battle between two streams of nationalism has been on for long. Now, National Conference leader Akbar Lone said he will abuse the person ten times who abuses Pakistan. But I ask him why abuse 10 times. It's better he gets a visa to Pakistan through his friend (Navjot Singh) Sidhu.
Your critics call you 'visa minister' since you often tell people to go to Pakistan.
I don't want to answer this. Those who want to take a swipe at me or be sarcastic, let them do it. I will work to awaken people towards nationalism.