The Rajya Sabha MP, whose party is a BJP ally, says the current environment is not healthy for the nation, minorities need to be taken along.
New Delhi: Naresh Gujral, leader of BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal, has blamed the “fringe in the ruling party” for going out of control, and has asked for strong action to be taken against it for spreading divisive rhetoric.
The Rajya Sabha MP said he was alarmed that despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi sending out a strong message against this, the fringe still needed taming.
“I feel very perturbed that the fringe in the ruling party sometimes goes out of hand. I have seen them being warned, and I’ve been saying time and again that ‘take strong action’ so that others are restrained from saying so,” Gujral told ThePrint.
Asked if the BJP was doing enough to rein in this fringe, he said: “I think you should ask someone in the BJP. I’m an alliance partner, and I’ve made my views very clear. I feel more needs to be done. This environment is not healthy for the nation, we need to come down very strongly on these divisive forces.”
On lynchings
On the spate of lynchings across the country, Gujral said the perpetrators needed to be “crushed with force”.
“The fringe, which is inciting all these problems in the country, has to be terrorised, rather than the fringe terrorising the nation,” Gujral said.
Asked if Indian laws needed to be strengthened to curb the menace of lynching, Gujral said: “Look, for 70 years we have survived as a nation with the existing laws — the IPC…These things were not happening. There were minor incidents here and there.”
Further underscoring that religious minorities must be taken along, the influential Sikh party’s MP said: “Not only their life and their property, but what I would call their izzat — their dignity — that has to be protected. For that, the strongest message must be sent out.”
Don’t encroach on allies’ turf
Gujral has not hesitated from voicing his displeasure over the rift between the BJP and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which ultimately led to the latter withdrawing from the NDA. He said the BJP must ensure that it does not get onto its allies’ turf in the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Acknowledging that there are tensions simmering within the NDA, he said: “Tensions basically take place when you are trying to get onto the other person’s territory.
“Today, if the Shiv Sena feels that the BJP is going to ask for more seats in Maharashtra than it did last time, it will obviously get riled. If Nitish Kumar feels that he will not get his due share, obviously he’ll be riled.”
Gujral also said taking allies along will be crucial to forming a government in 2019. Although he is confident that the NDA will form the next government too, he added there will be no single party dominance in the coalition.
“We’re all in politics, we’re all fighting for political space. Why would they (allies) give in? They need to be given full honour, accommodation. And do not try to get onto their turf. That is the mantra that Vajpayeeji followed,” he said.