BJP leader Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma has hit the headlines due to his controversial remarks on the Shaheen Bagh protests. The two-term Lok Sabha member from West Delhi reportedly called Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal a terrorist. Despite the Election Commission banning him from campaigning in the Delhi assembly elections, the BJP fielded him as the lead speaker to open the debate in the Lok Sabha on the President’s Address. Parvesh told DH’s Sagar Kulkarni that he is unapologetic about his remarks.
Q. How do view the protests in Shaheen Bagh in Delhi?
A. Had the Shaheen Bagh protests only been against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), I may not have had any issue with it. There are many people who are protesting against it. But, here they moved away from CAA and started raising slogans such as ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, ‘Jinnahwali Azadi’, ‘We want jihad’, ‘We will kill our prime minister and home minister’, ‘We will separate Assam from the rest of the country’. When the chief minister and deputy chief minister extended their support to them, I felt very bad.
Q. But to call an elected chief minister a terrorist?
A. I had to say this because of the chief minister’s comments against the prime minister. I have no regrets about what I have said. What should one say about a chief minister who supports those raising Pakistan Zindabad slogans? What should one say when he says the prime minister is a traitor (desh drohi), or the prime minister has “some setting” with terrorists? I have not heard anything worse thing than this. I also feel compelled to tell the people of Delhi what their chief minister actually is.
Q. How is the BJP’s campaign shaping up?
A. Our campaign focuses on what the Central government has done for Delhiites and how Kejriwal has failed to deliver in the past five years. People of Delhi should vote for development, but for that development which they have seen with their own eyes, they have felt with their own hands. The chief minister of Delhi has issued advertisements worth Rs 1,400 crore and misled the people by making tall claims of development. What should one say about a chief minister who has not built a single new school, a new hospital or a new flyover of which he has laid the foundation stone and also inaugurated it? Giving free water and electricity is helping the poor, this is not development. People should vote for development.
Q. But the campaign for Delhi elections has turned vitriolic and polarising?
A. We did not start Shaheen Bagh. The Delhi chief minister is feeding them biryani using tax-payers' money. The chief minister has given a communal colour to the entire protest. When he started saying that we stand with Shaheen Bagh, then we also had to raise the issue. I would not have said anything had the incident happened elsewhere, but I had to say it because Shaheen Bagh in part of Delhi. The people there are voters of Delhi. Also, nobody is talking of those persons who have difficulty in commuting to offices because of the protests, nobody talks of students who have difficulty in going to school.
Q. There have also been instances of gunfire in Shaheen Bagh?
A. People are angry because Pakistan Zindabad slogans are raised there. Hence they have resorted to gunfire. I would appeal to the youth not to take law into their own hands. Police will take action in such cases. Despite all this, BJP chose you to open the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address to Parliament? I am very thankful to my party and leadership. For the first time, I had initiated a debate.
Q. The Opposition walked out of the Lok Sabha?
A. Opposition walked out because they could not stand the truth that I laid bare in the Lok Sabha. I recounted their misdeeds of the last 55 years. They couldn't stomach this bitter truth and they also did not have the patience to hear the achievements of the Modi government which is why they walked out of Lok Sabha.
Q. Why has the BJP fielded 200 members of Parliament, chief ministers and top party leaders to campaign in Delhi?
A. That is the strength of our party. The Aam Aadmi Party is a one-man show of Arvind Kejriwal. They do not have leaders. There were a few of them but, Kejriwal showed them the door. Delhi is a mini India. There are people virtually from every district who have come and settled here. Parliament session is going on. All members are here and they are reaching out to people from their region who are staying in the capital. What is wrong with this?
Q. How is this election poised? Will all these efforts help you win elections?
A. I am very hopeful that we will gain the majority and we will win at least 45 seats.
Q. Are Shaheen Bagh protests only for the elections?
A. It depends on the AAP and all those who are supporting it. We are not supporting it. Congress and AAP are supporting it. It depends on those who are funding the protests. When the BJP comes to power in Delhi, they will realise that the chief minister who is supporting them has been defeated. They will leave on their own within an hour of BJP winning the elections.
Q. Kejriwal is now claiming to be a Hanuman bhakt?
A. Had he really been a Hanuman bhakt, he would not have given salaries only to imams of mosques. He is giving Rs 18,000 per month as salary to imams of mosques and Rs 16,000 to his assistant. Why does he not give similar salaries to priests at a temple or granthis in a gurdwara? During election time, everyone becomes a Ram Bhakt or Hanuman Bhakt. They remember God only when the political ship starts sinking. He never even welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on the Ram Temple out of fear of upsetting his voters.