The Mr Prithviraj Chavan Chat
Mr Prithviraj Chavan stuck up for the Congress and rued the departure from the party of one Sharad Pawar. Details of the chat:
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 21:29 IST)
Good morning everybody, I am here to take your questions!
Harish (Tue Sep 28 1999 20:57 IST)
Hi Mr Chavan, it is commendable that you did not move out with Pawar. But sir could you please explain your reasons for not sticking with him and backing Sonia?
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 21:32 IST)
Harish: I think the main reason for political instability is that we have too many small regional parties wanting to share political power at the Centre. Most of these parties have narrow parochial outlooks. They are pandering to the base instincts of our mostly illiterate electorate. Mr Pawar's attempt to split the Congress was strictly based on his personal ambition. It would only add to further instability. He should have remained in the party and fought within the Congress party.
Mahalaxmi (Tue Sep 28 1999 20:59 IST)
Mr Chavan, what is your prediction about the outcome of the election? As far as reports go it will be another indecisive vote. What is the reason that people are unable to come to terms with one political party or agenda?
Mind it (Tue Sep 28 1999 21:30 IST)
Hello Mr Chavan, how are you feeling now that the polling in Maharashtra is over? What is your prediction about the outcome and why?
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 21:40 IST)
Mahalaxmi and Mind It: Talking about Maharashtra results, I feel BJP-Shiv Sena might benefitt by the splitting of votes caused by Pawar's NCP. There was such a strong anti-incumbency feeling against the alliance government that had Mr Pawar not split the party, the BJP-SS would have been wiped out from the state. I predict that in the Lok Sabha, the Congress will get more than 20 seats, BJP-SS about 16-18 seats, and NCP 6, plus a few other parties. In the assembly, the Congress will emerge as the single largest party with close to 120 seats, followed by BJP-SS with about 90-100 seats and NCP will not cross 60.
Bhosle (Tue Sep 28 1999 21:15 IST)
Chavanji: Do you think the Congress will emerge as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha? Which all states do you expect that the party would gain?
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 21:42 IST)
Bhosle: The Congress will be the single largest party in the Lok Sabha. The party will do well in UP, MP, Gujarat, TN, Karnataka, Orissa.
Manek (Tue Sep 28 1999 21:42 IST)
Mr Chavan why has politics become so downright dirty that political opponents now make personal digs which are degrading. I'm commenting on the remarks made against Soniaji. Don't you think there should be some rules made by EC on what a person standing for elections can say or not say?
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 21:46 IST)
Manek: It is very unfortunate that the BJP has sunk to new lows in personal attacks. As a ruling party, they should have stuck to some crucial economic issues about the infrastructure development, poverty alleviation, likely fiscal problems because of oil prices, defence preparedness, etc.
But this election, thanks to the BJP's campaign, and issues raised by Sharad Pawar, was fought on non-issues, and important issues concerning the people were sidetracked. Rather than the EC framing more complex rules that are difficult to follow, I think the people of India will have to reply to such campaign by defeating the BJP.
Dilipfan (Tue Sep 28 1999 21:46 IST)
Do you think Dilip Kumar should return the Nishan E-Pakistan? And would you encourage Pakistani artistes to perform in India as well as the Pakistani team to come to India and play?
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 21:48 IST)
Dilipfan: Dilip Kumar was given an award by a foreign country for his artistic achievements. Many artistes get such awards from foreign countries. There is no need to make an exception about Pakistan and there is also no question of returning the honour. I feel the cultural, journalistic, sports interaction with Pakistan must continue. After all, we have to solve our mutual problems ourselves.
Gajanan (Tue Sep 28 1999 21:44 IST)
Mr Chavan, Maharshtra has become a Shiv Sena empire in the last five years. They lord and rule it like dons. They have even been dictating the cultural agenda. WHAT does the Congress plan to do about it?
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 21:50 IST)
Gajanan: You can rest assured that the Shiv Sena will not come to power. While it is very difficult to rectify the damage done in the five year of the BJP-SS rule, Congress alone can take Maharashtra back to its old glory as the No 1 industrial and financial state of the country with the law and order situation under control.
Pushkarna (Tue Sep 28 1999 21:45 IST)
Mr Chavan: I fail to understand how the Congress will emerge as the single largest party. Won't the party lose heavily in your home state of Maharashtra? So whatever the gains that you get in UP, Karnataka etc will by upset by your heavy loses in Maharashtra...
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 21:53 IST)
Pushkarna: I agree that we will be affected by the NCP dividing the anti-communal votes in Maharashtra. The maximum loss in Maharashtra would not be more than 12 seats from the 33 seats held by us. We will more than make up for it from UP alone, where we are looking at 30+ seats.
Jaihind (Tue Sep 28 1999 21:52 IST)
Mr Chavan, what will be foremost on the Congress governments agenda if it comes to power?
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 21:55 IST)
Jaihind: Putting the economy back on the centrestage. We will take the country away from the divisive agenda set by the BJP.
Rajesh (Tue Sep 28 1999 21:34 IST)
But, Mr Chavan, you say that Mr Pawar should have remained with the Congress party. But if one does not agree with the leader of a party isn't it better they part? Plus Mr Chavan don't you think that Mr Pawar, Mr M Singh would have been better candidates for the PM than a novice like Ms S Gandhi?
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 22:1 IST)
Rajesh: The political party forms the heart of parliamentary democracy. Actions such as those taken by Mr Pawar only weaken the party system in India. Whether it is Thackeray's party, the TDP, or the parties in the northeast, they all revolve around a narrow, linguistic, casteist agenda. They cannot look bring a national perspective to their thinking.
Most of them are driven by personal ambition. India will have to go towards two or three national parties as in the US or UK, only then will there be stability and proper attention to national and international problems faced by the country. It will take some time.
If you look at voting trends, people are disillusioned with the small, regional, parochial parties. In a parliamentary democracy, the elected MPs of the larger parties alone democratically elect its leader who goes on to become the PM. Why should it be different this time?
Mohan Raj (Tue Sep 28 1999 21:22 IST)
Mr Chavan, what do you think is wrong with our system of elections? Do you think we need to have a presidential form of election?
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 22:7 IST)
Mohan Raj: The presidential form of government -- I am against it. In a country where nearly 40 per cent of the people are totally illiterate, presidential form, even with safeguards, will lead to majorityism.
I think the parliamentary system needs to be fine tuned -- state funding, more powers to the EC, permanent establishment for EC, attempts to strengthen internal democracy in political parties (even by giving the EC a role as in the US). Unfortunately, we stop discussing electoral reforms the moment the elections are over.
Angry Indian (Tue Sep 28 1999 22:3 IST)
Do you agree that the Congress party's main strength is that it has candidates at the grassroot levels like no other party. So that means unless another party has that kind of infrastructure, the politics of coalition will continue?
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 22:9 IST)
Angry Indian: The Congress party certainly has a much wider network of grassroots level workers. It is an advantage. The BJP has a network of RSS workers, but they are confused about the role of the RSS.
If the BJP sheds its Hindutva agenda and becomes a party of the 21st century, it can certainly become a rival to the Congress. But they must clarify their ideological confusion across their various sister organisations -- the Bajrang Dal, the VHP, etc.
Harpreet (Tue Sep 28 1999 22:13 IST)
Mr Chavan, though Kargil is the victory of the armed forces, besides the BJP trying to show it as their victory the Congress is busy using Kargil as a tool to beat the BJP. Yet if it is a victory of the armed forces then what is so bad about it that the Congress is using it as a weapon against the BJP?
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 22:17 IST)
Harpreet: It is very unfortunate that the BJP government tried to use Kargil as its victory. The Congress party only raised some crucial issues, like whether the government reacted to the Kargil intrusion in time, which could have saved lives.
We all know that there are reports about the field-level formations having informed the government about Pakistani intrusion. Is it unfair to ask when exactly the PM learnt about the seriousness of the loss of territory and the number of Pakistanis involved?
Unless we get these answers, Kargil may still be repeated in some other sector. What about the inquiry committee appointed by the government? A report will not come before the elections. Why?
WahWah (Tue Sep 28 1999 22:14 IST)
Mr Chavan, what is your honest and frank opinion on Sonia Gandhi as a leader. And why are you avoiding all questions on her? How is your relationship now with Mr Pawar? What was your reason for sticking with the Congress?
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 22:23 IST)
wahwah: You will agree that Sonia Gandhi has revived the Congress party. The Congress party, after all, is a broad coalition of social groups. It has always thrived under leaders like Nehru, Indiraji, Rajivji, who were above petty regional, linguistic, caste considerations. Leaders who followed Rajiv could not rise to that height.
People look at Sonia Gandhi as someone who will not be mired these petty issues like casteist, regional, linguistic politics. What's wrong with accepting someone who has revived the party, led the party to victory, who is admired by the people, who is a crowd puller.
I think Sharad Pawar has made a major political blunder by splitting the party in Maharashtra at a time when people wanted to get rid of regional parties. I think he will become irrelevant in national politics.
Mukesh (Tue Sep 28 1999 22:19 IST)
Mr Chavan: Do you think Pawar will come back to the Congress after the elections? Do you think he will join hands with the BJP after the elections?
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 22:27 IST)
Mukesh: Actions of Mr Pawar indicate that he has a secret understanding with the BJP. His agenda was to reduce the Congress strength below 140 and blame Sonia Gandhi's leadership for it. It has not succeeded! He seems closer to the BJP, even though his followers will not accept his going to the BJP camp.
WahWah (Tue Sep 28 1999 22:24 IST)
Mr Chavan, do you think the government that will be formed now be stable to last five years?
Dayal (Tue Sep 28 1999 22:21 IST)
Chavanji: When do you expect the next Lok Sabha elections to take place? Don't you think a hung parliament is in the offing?
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 22:28 IST)
Dayal and wahwah: As someone who has fought four elections in eight years, I certainly wish the Parliament lasts five years. But it is up to the voters. However, I am against any artificial amendment to fix the term of the LS for five years.
tony (Tue Sep 28 1999 22:16 IST)
Mr Chavan: Do you think the minorities are coming back to the Congress because of Sonia Gandhi?
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 22:30 IST)
tony: I was an observer in UP, so I can speak about Maharashtra and UP. The minorities, particularly the Muslims, have certainly come back to the Congress. They are very upset that Mulayam Singh Yadav was responsible for continuation of the BJP government in the Centre.
Kewal Nath (Tue Sep 28 1999 22:30 IST)
Mr Chavan: Any possibility of a third-front government supported by the Congress from outside?
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 22:32 IST)
Kewal Nath: I personally think that is not possible, because the Third Front strength will be reduced to about 50 seats in the LS. And as it is, they won't be able to agree on a common name.
Mr Prithviraj Chavan(Tue Sep 28 1999 22:41 IST)
Everyone: Thank you for your interesting questions. With your best wishes, I hope to win my Karad seat for the fourth time!
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