Q: Is this election in Goa a battle between two IITians Parrikar and you?
I think the main issue is the performance and conduct of both Congress and BJP so far. Remember the 2007 to 2012 period when Congress was in power they indulged in so much of corruption that people started hating them. In 2012 people voted for BJP, because they believed in Parrikar. They thought that BJP will do something. But for the last five years the BJP has indulged in so much of corruption and BJP has virtually made a U-turn on every single promise that they made and now people want to teach a lesson to the BJP. Fortunately this time we have Aam Aadmi Party, whose performance people have seen in Delhi and everyone knows, that nobody in the world can buy the Aam Aadmi Party. This is what Goan politics needs right now, honesty integrity, and very strong action against corruption.
Q: Will singular issue of graft help AAP win polls?
Corruption is at the bottom of everything... what policies are being made and their execution. In every small thing there is corruption. In every policy that is being made in Goa, it is being made with an eye on how much money can be made. Let me give you a Delhi example. In two years we have done so much work in Delhi… earlier governments used to complaint that there was no money. But because we have been able to reduce corruption, money is being saved in everything we do.
Q: You have been accused of running negative campaign against BJP and Congress. But you are not seeking votes on your own positive attributes…
You have read our whole manifesto. AAP government will rid the state of corruption. Firstly let’s start with the team that is there, the team led by Elvis Gomes. If you look at the team, it inspires confidence in you... 39 young, bright, sincere hardworking, honest people led by Elvis Gomes who has a reputation of honesty and efficiency in bureaucracy.
(In the manifesto) There’s education, health, anti corruption, then there’s the amendments to the Tenancy Act. It has been taken away from the mamlatdar and brought to the civil court. This will be amended again and the jurisdiction will be brought back. So there’s a lot of positive agenda.
Q: When AAP first started off your ideal was to take decision back to the people. Do you think that is still happening? Or is it becoming more of Arvind Kejriwal’s decisions and less of the people’s decisions?
Certainly not. As you know Delhi is a half state. So for getting anything implemented, we have to struggle very hard with the central government. So we divided Delhi into mohalla sabhas. The plans they have drawn up are sent to the Lt Governor. It is pending there for some months. We hope that it should get implemented. But in Goa, because Goa is a state, I think we should be able to formalise a structure to have more of direct people’s participation in decision making as well as execution. Goa can be a model of decentralisation of power, both in decision making as well as execution. The consent of the local people will be taken.
Q: BJP leaders including Gadkari have repeatedly said that AAP will cut into Congress vote…
Their own chief Amit Shah has been saying: “Don’t be happy with this statement they will cut Congress votes and you will be safe. In Delhi the same thing was said and they did a hungama and we took votes of both the parties.” Amit Shah has said this in Gujarat and in Goa.
Q: You have promised 50,000 jobs, even the Church has said that it could be an unrealistic promise… How do you plan to implement this?
I think we have a detailed blueprint of how to achieve this. This is not a statement that has been made in the air. These are private sector jobs.
Q: What’s your assessment of Goa’s elections?
My assessment is that the Congress is gone. There isn’t even a campaign running. They have not even had a single public meeting. They’ve given up. They are selling tickets. The Congress does not exist and I would advise the people not to waste their vote on the Congress. BJP, as I have said, the people hate them. There is hatred and anger against the BJP. BJP’s vote has got divided among many parts. As a result AAP should get a majority. When I talk to people this is their calculation. There seems to be a wave in favour of AAP. Goa’s result could be really surprising to the whole country.
Q: Election Commission has censured you and you have said that you will challenge the notice...
I was telling the people, take money from the BJP and Congress and vote for AAP. How can this be bribery. If I had said, that look I am giving you money and vote for me, then I am bribing. By no stretch of imagination can this be said to be bribing. The political parties have complained against me to the Election Commission that I am promoting bribery. The political parties are rattled, because in Delhi also I had said this. And the results are also clear, that the people took money from them and they voted for us. So this is what I am telling the election commission, that if they want to spend money it will sink and they will not spend money. I’m actually against bribery. What I’m doing is against bribery. Someone had challenged this in a lower court. The court passed an order saying that what I was saying is against bribery. So election commission is not even following that order of the lower court. The ECI has said that for the rest of the election period, I will not be allowed to say this. We will challenge this in a high court.
