New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia has said party vice-president Rahul Gandhi has a clear blueprint to revitalize Congress and "the results will show in the next 1-2 months".
Replying to a volley of questions from Rajat Sharma in India TV show "Aap Ki Adalat", to be telecast tonight at 10 pm, Scindia said, Rahul has a clear blueprint in his mind and heart.
Rajat Sharma asked Scindia whether Rahul Gandhi has come up with a blueprint after returning from his long leave. Scindia replied: "I understand he has a blueprint in his mind and heart. And you shall see in the next 1-2 months, change will definitely come."
(Q: Jab wo chhuti pe gaye the to aapne kaha tha ki wo blueprint le kar lautenge. To blueprint kuchh mila hai?
Scindia: Main samajhata hoon ki unke mastishka me aur unke dil me blueprint bilkul hai. Aur aap swayam dekhenge agale 1-2 mahine me wo parivartan jaroor aayega.)
The Congress leader conceded that the party lost power last year at the Centre because it committed mistakes in policy formulation and execution.
Scindia said ." Of course, we had certain drawbacks in policy formulation. That's why we are sitting in opposition today. Had there been no drawbacks, Congress would not have lost power. If we don't accept this fact, it will only harm us. We need to introspect on these issues."
Scindia, however, said that as a responsible opposition, now it was the duty of Congress to point out drawbacks of the current regime.
Coming out strongly in support of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra on his controversial land deals in Haryana and Rajasthan, Scindia said Vadra has not done anything illegal.
"Every citizen in this country has the right to decide his business and investment model. If he has flouted any law, let there be probe against him. There are BJP governments both at the Centre and in Haryana. Haryana government has already set up a probe committee. Let them investigate," Scindia added.
On the controversial land acquisition bill, Scindia insisted that the consent of farmers before acquiring their land was a must and the deletion of this clause in the new bill was a grave injustice to farmers.
"Should we acquire the land of farmers without their consent? What is the problem in taking their consent? When Congress was in power, BJP leaders like Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj had vociferously demanded that there should be no land acquisition without the consent of farmers. What has happened in the last one year that they have changed their stand?"
When reminded that Congress allegation about BJP going to hand over farmers' land to industrialists does not hold water as the party itself had handed over 92,000 acres of land, half the size of Mumbai, to industrialists in different states which affected nearly 5 lakh people, Scindia replied that the Congress party brought the land acquisition bill to make sure that no such acquisition occurs in future.
"Lands were acquired in states ruled by all the parties including Congress. We wanted to introduce a uniform national policy on land acquisition and that's why we brought that legislation. But this government tore it apart and threw it in the dustbin," Scindia said.
Scindia pooh-poohed the claims of "acche din" made by Modi government.
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" Go and ask people about prices of tomato, potato and onion. Crude oil prices have gone down by 60 % internationally but there is hardly 2-3 % drop in India," Scindia pointed out.
Scindia rejected media surveys saying Modi was getting overwhelming approval from the people on his performance in the first year of his rule.
"Don't forget that similar surveys had predicted that there was no chance of UPA making a comeback in 2009. They were proved wrong." Scindia pointed out.
" There is no increase in public investment. Exports are decreasing. There is no decrease in petrol-diesel prices. What growth are we talking about?" asked Scindia.
He rejected claims made by the government on "Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana", Modi's pet project.
" Out of 12.5 crore bank accounts opened under this scheme, 80 % are "zero balance" accounts. They all got their accounts opened as they expected Rs 15 lakh to be deposited in their respective accounts as Modi had promised during the election campaign," added Scindia.
When asked to explain why Congress was expecting "acche din" within one year of Modi's rule whereas the party which ruled for 47 years could not bring better days, Scindia said that it's wrong to say that there was no development during these 47 years.
" I will be surprised if you would say there was no development during these 47 years. And do you want that nobody should question the government for the next 47 years? In a democracy, questions are asked and evaluations are made of what was promised and what was delivered. It's our duty to ask questions and we'll continue to do that," he added.
On the personal front, Jyotiraditya Scindia vehemently denied that he prefers to be called 'maharaja' in his constituency.
" I'm a citizen of 21st century. I want to be known for my knowledge and work. My objective is social service and not politics," Scindia clarified.
When he was confronted with a video clip in which he was seen as comparing himself with God, Scindia conceded that it was a slip of tongue.
" I have no hesitation in saying that it was a slip of tongue on my part. I won't deny that," Scindia said.
Scindia rejected the charge that Rahul Gandhi did not do his homework before raising the Amethi food park issue in Lok Sabha as it was cancelled during UPA rule only.
" I want to put it on record that the food park project in Amethi was cancelled on June 30, 2014 when Modi government was in power. The decision was taken in a meeting of food processing ministry. I can share the details of that meeting with you. Therefore, it's wrong to say that Rahul Gandhi didn't do his homework," Scindia clarified.
Jyotiraditya Scindia in Rajat Sharma's Aap Ki Adalat will be telecast on India TV tonight (June 6) at 10 pm, and on Sunday (June 7) at 10 am and 10 pm.
