What message are you giving with the new alliance?
The grand alliance in Bihar broke on the issue of corruption. Nitish said he would not compromise on corruption. That is the main agenda of our government. The second issue is development, which also includes law and order. When he was in alliance with the RJD, there was a perception that law and order was deteriorating. That should be changed.
How would that change?
The focus will be on development, the kind we achieved during the seven and a half years of our previous alliance. Development suffered in the last four years because of political instability. It was particularly so in the departments run by the RJD and the Congress.
Will the new alliance last?
I think it will. Nitish has taken the decision after going deeply into everything.
Nitish Kumar left the NDA over the issue of Narendra Modi being made its prime ministerial candidate.
That is a closed chapter now.
How did you convince him to return?
Nobody needed to convince him because we know Lalu Prasad Yadav and the RJD, the kind of people, the culture and the kind of governance that they believe in. It is very difficult to run a government with Lalu Yadav. Nitish also knew it, but he went for an experiment. After 18-20 months, he said it was no longer possible to run a government with Lalu.
But the mandate in 2015 was in favour of the grand alliance.
The mandate was not for compromise with corruption. The mandate was for development, transparency and probity. People are interpreting it as one for the grand alliance, but its face was Nitish. The mandate was for the development of Bihar, for good governance and better law and order. It was not for satisfying the greed of one family. They misread the mandate and thought it was for protecting the benami properties of one family.
Lalu Prasad and family claim the action against them is the BJP’s vendetta.
He should have explained the charges against him. But he only said it was political vendetta. Even during the fodder scam, he said it was vendetta. Had the Patna High Court not monitored the probe, he would have escaped.
Nitish Kumar had been talked about as the face of the opposition unity.
Nitish may have realised that the opposition unity is farce. What is the agenda for this unity? With people like Lalu Yadav and Mayawati in the alliance, how would have that helped the cause? There would not have been any credibility. He may have realised that.
What will be the BJP’s game plan for the 2019 Lok Sabha and the 2020 assembly elections?
We have not given it a thought. Our first priority after the vote of confidence is to run the government efficiently.
How would your government be different from the previous one?
We were in government for seven and a half years. People have seen our work. People will feel the change much faster. Our work will speak for us. We will review all departments and take decisions.
Sharad Yadav seems to be upset.
That is their internal issue.
Do we get to see a BJP chief minister in Bihar? You have been the front runner.
That is not the question now. Our agenda is to run the government together on the issue of development. We will work on that agenda.
