In the upcoming general elections, the BJP is fielding Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Chandrasekhar as its candidate for the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat. The CPI has fielded former Kerala state secretary Pannyan Raveendran, while the Congress party is yet to announce its candidate. However, it is highly likely that the incumbent MP, Shashi Tharoor, will be the candidate for the grand old party, which means that the constituency will witness a high-profile contest this time too, just as in the past. Ever since the announcement of his candidacy, Chandrasekhar has been focusing more on programmes that appeal to the youth. On Tuesday, he announced in Thiruvananthapuram that four lakh youth in Kerala will be skilled in the next three years under Pradhan Manthri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0. The programme will provide training in future skills, including those related to 3D printing, AI, and drone manufacturing.
In an interview with THE WEEK, the Union minister spoke about his vision and plans for the state capital. He also voiced strong criticism of the ruling CPI(M) and the main opposition in the state, the Congress
Excerpts from the interview:
Will you be presenting development as your primary slogan during the upcoming elections?
People are seeing the development that was brought by the Modi government. We moved from one of the five most fragile economies to become the fifth largest economy and now moving on to become the third largest economy in two years. This is not a trivial achievement. Some people may ask what is the impact of the size of the economy. The impact is real. When the economy grows, the government’s spending power increases. I will cite an example in Jal Shakthi ministry. Since 1947 to 2019, tap water was available only to 3.7 crore households. In the last three years, the prime minister spent Rs 3.5 lakh crore and we have provided 11.5 crore more households with tap water. We could see similar progress in a lot of other sectors including defence and social security. We saw massive spending in infrastructure development. All this is happening because of economic growth. India is the fastest-growing economy in the world. I was an entrepreneur. In the past, I never imagined India would become the fastest-growing economy in the world. Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, recently said in a Bloomberg Interview: “Next year we want to cross India.” India has become a gold standard. Development is the answer to all our country’s problems, whether it is related to poverty, security or lack of investment. So, our election narrative is only about development. I am not ready to propagate negative politics. But Thiruvananthapuram and Kerala are examples of how in the last ten years we have fallen behind.
I will give two examples: Thiruvananthapuram is one of the pioneer cities in IT sector. When I started BPL mobile in 1995-96, even back then Techno Park was there in Thiruvananthapuram. Now when you look at the world of startups, Thiruvananthapuram does not rank in the 20 cities. We missed the bus to capture the opportunity.
Another issue is the economy. Kerala is at the edge of economic bankruptcy. If somebody puts a stop to the remittance economy, we will be worse than Sri Lanka’s condition. The state is borrowing money to even pay salaries and for revenue expenditure. Meanwhile, we see some of these states like Uttar Pradesh which were called 'BIMARU states' in the past, having budget surplus. They are getting investments for semiconductors and data centres. Last year alone, 1.3 lakh new jobs were created by Apple alone in India. But where were these jobs created? In places like Noida, UP, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Why these investments are not coming to Kerala? When you think about it we see a fundamental problem. When Vijaya Mallya’s company went bankrupt, Mallya used to say that he would not pay salaries because he is not getting loans. That was his excuse. One would see a parallel for that in Kerala. How did Mallya’s company go bankrupt? Because of mismanagement and corruption. How does the state go bankrupt? Same thing. Political ineptness. If you do not know how to do economic management, don’t do it. Give the responsibilities to someone else and leave.
Thiruvananthapuram harbours numerous aspirations for development. However, certain segments, particularly those residing along the coastal belt of Thiruvananthapuram, have concerns about the potential impact of development on their livelihoods.
We are putting forward the idea of sustainable development. We are not in favour of the idea of development at any cost. Development that the community wants and the community accepts—that is what we put forward. I won’t push for a coal factory or a hydrocarbon emitting plant in Thiruvananthapuram. In the coming days, economic growth is going to be so much tech-driven. So, Thiruvananthapuram should become e a hub of digital economy. Thiruvananthapuram should have its right place in the emerging trend of semiconductors, electronics and electronic design. All these are sustainable development models. There will be creation of jobs, service industries and support systems. Another segment is sustainable tourism. There should be expansion for it and Thiruvananthapuram should become a hub for it. It should also become a tourism and wellness hub. In the post-Covid phase, the tourism narrative has changed very much in favour of health and wellness tourism. But are we getting the right share of it? Kerala was the major destination for Ayurveda wellness once. But now Sri Lanka is claiming that position. Why?
So, Thiruvananthapuram’s economy should earn a fresh look. It should be talent-driven, digital economy-driven, services sector-driven and precision manufacturing-driven. That is my idea; that is the prime minister’s idea. That is why he launched the digital science park in Thiruvananthapuram, at a cost of Rs1,200 crore.
Is seeing politics in everything an impediment to development?
Even if I am not there in politics, if this question is being asked to me, I would say the following answer. Kerala’s economy and Thiruvananthapuram’s economy have been held hostage by two defunct ideologies. One of these ideologies is of Karl Marx. Marx’s ideology has died and got buried everywhere, including in China and Russia. That ideology is irrelevant to today’s world. Even in Cuba of Fidel Castro, they are moving into capitalism and free market. That defunct ideology is holding Kerala hostage. It is an ideology that is against development and investments and sees wealth creation as a curse. They propagate the idea that being poor is a virtue and remaining poor is a greater virtue.
Another ideology is that of the Congress. They have just sloganeering. There is nobody for politics of performance in Congress. PM Modi has lifted over 25 crore people from poverty. You would hear Congressmen saying: “Oh we started it”. What did they start? A slogan ‘Garibhi hatao”. I am sure the sell by date of this ideology is near.
These two ideologies have stifled the natural growth of Kerala.
I challenge if anyone could cite any other phase in India’s history in comparison to the development that you witnessed in the past ten years. So that is the narrative. We have to move forward.
Muslim countries of the Middle East have decorated prime minister with the highest civilian awards. Even then, we are called communal. We have not shown any discrimination or exclusion in any government to anybody based on religion. But people are propagating these two defunct ideologies. I feel my candidature and Modi’s presence in this campaign are intended to change that status quo.
You said that you came here as a representative of Modi. But even then candidates and their work will also be considered.
I am very proud of the work I have done. As a political person, MP and minister, I have done my best. But the transformation that India underwent in the last ten years, that has been done by Modiji. I or anyone else can't take credit for that.
Considering the things Modi ji has done, no one can exclude the name of Modi from this election campaign. The other parties may have some hope of making this a fight between Rajeev Chandrashekhar and Shashi Tharoor. But Rajeev Chandrasekhar is a representative of Modiji’s work and ideology and I would proudly say it.
But in this constituency, you are a relatively unfamiliar face. Will that be an issue?
How do you define familiarity? I am giving a commitment that I will be available 24x7 365 days, I will have an office. I will have an app. I will have a number and call centre and I will be accessible. As I was accessible in Bengaluru or Delhi. If people are giving me the opportunity to represent them, I will be the most approachable person.
You have announced a major skilling plan for Thiruvananthapuram.
We will ensure that between four to 10 lakh people, especially youth, will be skill-trained in Thiruvananthapuram. I am so passionate about this. Skilling has a catalytic effect on a child’s career. Skills will attract investment. I give a guarantee that in the next five years, there will no child in Thiruvananthapuram who is not skill-trained. Because if future skilling is done, it is true empowerment. As the minister, I visited 84 colleges. We can sense that today’s youth is full of hope. Many decades back when we were finishing our studies, our options were limited. But today the case is different. I have seen ambitious students from even rural parts of India chasing big dreams. But that is where we have to think about Kerala campuses. Even now in many colleges’ student organisations like SFI are setting narratives like campus murders and retaliations. Why are students incubating startups not becoming the narrative? So, that requires to be changed. For that to change everybody should undergo skilling. Even SFI students will get skill training.
Shashi Tharoor, who has a status as the vishwa pauran (global citizen), is the incumbent MP here. He is likely to be your contender.
I am not a vishwa pauran. I am an ordinary Malayali; an Air Force officer’s son. I am not highly sophisticated. I have not written a thousand books. But I have done some job in my life. I have real achievements in that regard. I have done what I have said. I announce only what I intend to do. That is my signature. I am not competing with anybody on intellectual capabilities or English language skills. But I have the determination and vision to bring real changes in Thiruvananthapuram.
