BJP will discuss govt role for LK Advani after polls: Rajnath Singh

NEW DELHI: BJP chief Rajnath Singh has said a likely role for veteran leader L K Advani in government will be discussed by party leaders after Lok Sabha elections are over and Advani will be part of the consultations.

Responding to a question whether Advani's stature as a former deputy PM could come in the way of his joining the government, Rajnath Singh said, "We will all sit and take a decision and Advaniji himself will be part of such a discussion and participate in any such meeting."

In an interview to TOI, Singh expressed confidence that BJP and its allies would reach the majority mark and said the government formation and ministry-making exercise will begin only after election results are out on May 16.

Asked about a role in government for senior leaders like Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari and others, Singh said the BJP parliamentary board will take the call. "There are many capable and honest leaders. A decision about which leader is to be given what responsibility will be taken after elections."

He also said that he did not see the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh wielding the remote if a BJP-led government assumed office as several BJP leaders were swayamsewaks themselves.

"We are all ourselves swayamsewaks. When we need the experience of the Sangh to guide us, we approach them. I can assert that RSS has never dictated," he said.

Singh denied that BJP has encouraged politics of polarization, saying if a BJP-led government got five years in office, it would make politics of polarizing votes irrelevant.

He agreed BJP has failed to win over minorities like Muslims, but said the situation can be redressed. "...a sense of fear has been cultivated among them. If we get five years, we will erase this sense of fear."

Singh said Hindutva phobia was a deliberate tactic utilized by BJP's rivals and the party will ensure that such tactics do not provide any political returns if it got the chance to lead an NDA government.

He dismissed the charge that his decision to back Narendra Modi was a tactical alliance and not one born of conviction as "petty allegations" and said only Modi in the BJP line up had the "moral authority" to be PM.

On his statements that he would not join the government, he said "I have already been given a responsibility by the party and my term is yet to run out. There is no allergy to joining the government but I have been given a job to do."