Modi has made the election about himself: Jairam Ramesh

With the 2014 election campaign fast acquiring a strong Rahul Gandhi versus Narendra Modi colour, Union minister Jairam Ramesh today told CNN-IBN in an interview that Modi had deliberately made himself an issue.

"Modi is an aggressive campaigner with no holds barred. He has made himself the issue. He said give me the mandate not because India is shining but because Gujarat is shining," Ramesh said during the interview.

Jairam Ramesh. AFP

He said that it was the media that created the Rahul vs Modi competition. "We are not fighting this elections to install an individual as PM. We have a team, the BJP has one person. The campaign of Mr Modi is I, me, myself. What Mr Gandhi is saying is that I am the leader but I have a team with me," he said.

Opinion polls by various organisations and news channels revealed that the BJP had an upper hand in the upcoming elections with the increase of Modi's popularity and the corrupt image that marred the Congress-led UPA government. Ramesh dismissed such polls saying, "These opinion polls are more opinion than poll."

However he conceded that times were indeed challenging for the Congress. "These are challenging times. But in 2004 too, we had been written off. Yet we proved all the prophets of doom wrong. We have a difficult task at hand in state after state."

Though the Congress has refused to name one person as the prime ministerial candidate, it has become obvious that Rahul Gandhi is the face of the party who is leading it to the polls.

Gadhi is on every television advertisement, as well as on billboards claiming that this election should not be about 'main' (me) but 'hum' (us). When asked for a confirmation on Rahul being the party's face, Ramesh said, "We are not fighting these elections to install an individual. We are fighting these elections for our party to get the mandate."

Ramesh also said that Rahul Gandhi would bring in a completely new team if voted to power. "He will bring in a completely new team. I am history. Rahul Gandhi is 43. He obviously has to bring a new generation into the party into the government if we get the mandate," Ramesh said.

Asked if the Congress would marginalise an entire generation if it came to power, Ramesh said, "Don't use such Soviet terms. At 59 I ought to be history because there people in their 30s and 40s knocking at the door, and they ought to be given a chance in the leadership and when you have a 43-year-old leader, I don't think you should have 60 and 70-year-old advising him, frankly."

With the elections almost here, many political parties including the BJP have blamed the Congress dividing Telangana for political benefits. Ramesh defended the bifurcation at this time saying because it was much more complicated that the bifurcation of Bihar or Chhattisgarh it took so long. "It has taken an extraordinarily long time to create consensus. Even now there are differences of opinion. We have had numerous all party meets. Only the Congress has not changed its stand on Telangana. Others have said something, written something else and taken a u-turn," Ramesh said.

"It was a tough decision to take. We bit the bullet, we took the decision that was courageous and bold. Once and for all the debate in Telangana die down," he added.

As the Telangana Bill was passed, the Congress was not only blamed for trying to score brownie points in the region, but also of conspiring with the TRS to go to polls together for mileage. Denying any such conspiracy, Ramesh said, "K Chandrashkhar Rao met our Congress president yesterday. There are various are option before us. We may get support from the TRS, or go for a friendly fight. The notion that there is a conspiracy between the TRS and Congress is absurd."

Right after the Telangana bill was passed, there arose many demands from different parts of India for other bifurcations. Mayawati was of the opinion that Uttar Pradesh should be divided, the GJM demanded a seperate Gorkhaland from West Bengal and there was also demand for Vidarbha to be seperated from Maharashtar.

Ramesh said he was in favour of UP being bifurcated because it was not possible to successfully govern such a huge state. "For almost 25 years, since I have been in this business of development administration, I have believed that Uttar Pradesh with its current architecture is ungovernable. A state of over 200 million people, 74-75 districts, 800 blocks; no political party can govern the state effectively the way it is configured," he said and added, "I am all for the reorganisation of Uttar Pradesh. It could be 2 or 3 or 4, that needs to be looked at, but the state as currently configured is simply not possible to be governed effectively and sensitively. I think we need to look at the state. This is where the heartland of India lies."

He, howeve,r said that he would not support a separate Gorkhaland for strategic reasons. "I would not support Gorkhaland. There are strategic issues in Gorkhaland. I will not support that. I would not support Bodoland, but Vidarbha has been a demand in the past. I am surprised in the case of Vidarbha, the NCP seems to be in favour of Vidarbha, the BJP is is favour of Vidarbha, it is only the Shiv Sena which needs to be brought on board. But on Uttar Pradesh, if we are interested in the future of the state and the future of India lies in the future of Uttar Pradesh. We need to do some hard thinking after the elections on re-configuring the current geography of the state."