Opinions

Party chief was hesitant to say no to me…, so i opted out on my own: Sumitra Mahajan


For almost three decades since 1989, Indore, or ‘mini Mumbai’ as it is called, had come to identify itself with Sumitra Mahajan, affectionately known as “taee” (elder sister) by politicians as well as the masses. But the BJP denied ticket to Mahajan and other senior leaders of the party such as patriarchs LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi as it decided not to field contenders who have turned 75. In an exclusive interview with ET at her Indore residence, outgoing Lok Sabha Speaker hinted that the decision on her political career could have been handled better. Excerpts…


What’s your assessment of the BJP’s poll prospects in Madhya Pradesh?
The party will perform well in the state. The Malwa region has always been a stronghold of the party. In the past too, Vasant Kumar Pandit would come here from Mumbai and win elections. Atal ji (Bihari Vajpayee), Sushma ji (Sushma Swaraj) have been winning from Vidisha.

But what happened in the 2018 assembly polls — BJP’s 15 yearlong regime came to an end…

The party lost by a small margin, but we will win the Lok Sabha polls. Forming the government was not that tough; ultimately we had won 112 seats. We were short only by 4-5 seats, so it was not a big defeat… moreover, our vote percentage went up. But what cost us dear was our laidback attitude.

Will the Modi factor reverse the assembly election setback?

The state poll outcome will not have any bearing on the Lok Sabha elections. People want Modi at the Centre, and his performance speaks for itself. The steps he took on the national security front have been widely appreciated and they believe that only Modi can take tough decisions.

BJP gave ticket to a new face, Shankar Lalwani, to contest from Indore, a constituency you have represented for the past 30 years. Your views…

He is also our karyakarta (worker) and has risen from the ranks. He was corporator twice and parshad once. He was a member of the Indore Development Authority and has spent time on organisational work. People know him — he is a good candidate.

But leaders close to you feel that the central leadership should have at least taken you into confidence on the matter since you had started poll preparations.
No, no… people didn’t know, but we had a sense. I was waiting for them to declare. Maybe because of the position I held (Lok Sabha Speaker), I feel the party president was slightly hesitant to say ‘no’ to me because of some rule they had framed. I spoke to party president (Amit Shah) couple of times, wanting to know the decision, so that I could back out on my own, but he said “leave it “taee”, and give me some more time”….. I went to the organisation, but I did not share anything, though I felt people were talking about me.

Politician don’t retire, do they?
Where is retirement? I’m telling you I have to go to the party office for a meeting…otherwise too, who wants to leave work? Let me tell you honestly that I have never been a political person: I was dragged into politics. I was part of Rashtriya Sevika Samiti, which would do social work. I was never considered a politician in political circles, and even you all (journalists) did not consider me one.

Your tenure as Lok Sabha Speaker would end shortly. Any thoughts?

Maximum legislative business has been conducted during my tenure, that’s my high point. And maximum bills have also been passed by the House. But, “halla” (shouting) was also the most during my time (she laughs). I tried to implement certain new schemes — I opened the research unit. I provided access to journalists from outside Delhi to get an idea of how Parliament functions, and for the first time, organised an interactive session of women MPs and MLAs.





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