Prakash Raj: ‘BJP doesn’t know governance’

Actor Prakash Raj, who is campaigning against Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in the ensuing Karnataka assembly elections, on Monday, ruled out the possibility of BJP coming to power in the state.

Launching a no-holds-barred attack on the BJP and its senior leaders, 53-year-old Raj said that “while BJP is trying to gain political grounds in the Karnataka, it will have to go back and reap what it has sowed in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.”

“They have sown hatred,” he said in a Facebook live with former editor of Outlook, Krishna Prasad. Without naming PM Narendra Modi, the avowed BJP critic said: “You don’t know how to govern. You are only loud-mouthing. You have wasted four years of our country. You have shattered us. And you are in a denial mode.”

Attacking BJP’s CM candidate Yeddyurappa for condoning corruption by Reddy brothers, Raj asked who Yeddyurappa was for pardoning them. He also questioned the rationale behind frequent visits by the Chief Ministers from the BJP ruled states to Karnataka in run up to the assembly polls.

Ridiculing Yogi Adityanath, he said, “you could not hold back your own constituency. Five Dalit MLAs of your party in an open letter to the Prime Minister say that you are not allowing them to work properly. And you will come here and talk about Hanuman Jayani? Are not you ashamed? Don’t you think people are watching you?”

“If a state ruled by you can lynch a Dalit groom for riding a horse, stop that first and then come to our houses and eat,” he said, adding that Adityanath was trying to exploit innocence of Hindus in the state.

According to the 53-year-old actor, it’s going to take at least a decade for India to retrieve what it has lost in the past four years. “Because the wound so inflicted is so deep. The tears will not dry up soon,” he said before adding that “History tells us whenever such bigots have come, they have left chaos. And they have had very bad ends. But it is for us to pick up the pieces and rebuild again.”

Accusing BJP of imposing monoculture on the country, Raj said: “BJP is a parasite. When people start realising they can’t live with parasites, something evolves. It tries to find ways to eradicate the parasite. That is how evolutions has happened.”

Calling the BJP a “driver” of the RSS, Raj urged Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of fighting elections directly. “I am very sure about it: The RSS will soon change its driver called BJP.”

Questioning the economic policies of the Modi government, he asked, “What do you mean by Make in India and Gandhi’s Swarajya when you put GST on a handmade product—which is a way of life? When you put lesser GST on machine made products? How do I trust you—when you kill jobs, when you kill a lifestyle?”

On the growing surge of Hindutva nationalism—which is openly advocated by many in the Modi government, Raj said: “When I ask you a question, why you ask my religion. You call me anti-India and anti-national. Who are you to tell me to go to Pakistan? Why Pakistan why not a nice holiday resort? Because it’s in your brain and the people who are behind your ideology, to whom you are listening, it’s in their brain that you hate a religion. People are watching. People have made a mistake. Remember, they are waiting to correct their mistake.”

“In 2014, I did trust him when he promised 2 crore jobs. No more black money. Single tax. Then you start correcting. During Gujarat elections, you lowered tax on papad to win election,” he said and went on to comment on growing incidents of crimes against women and mob vigilantism. “How do you support rapes? Where is law and order. If a democratically elected government can’t control law and order, then step out, leave.”

“Why you are talking about religion when you are supposed to talk about development. Religions don’t tell us to kill each other. We have accepted each other in this country. A Hindu loves a biryani. Will you ask religion of a fellow who gives you electricity? No. Look at what you have done,” he said, regretting the remarks made by a young “Hindutva Thinker” associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, who had bragged about cancelling an Ola ride as the Driver was a Muslim. The “Thinker” is followed by many Union Ministers on Twitter.

This interview has been compiled from a Facebook live video