Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan believes if INDIA bloc stays united, it can defeat BJP. But Congress will have to first change its attitude towards other parties and see BJP as the bigger threat, he tells KR Balasubramanyam. Edited excerpts:
Kerala has had a successful investor meet. How do you see it playing out in elections?
The event has no relation to the assembly elections. It was an initiative focussed on Kerala's development. Unfortunately, Kerala did not see the development it deserved in the past. Kerala had its own pride of place in many areas earlier, but some did not progress over a period. In industrial development, we were not ahead because we were not getting the investment we needed. In view of all this, we began special efforts in 2016 to attract private capital. We have taken steps to make our state investor friendly. We figured some laws and regulations were posing a hurdle. We changed that and improved the investment climate. These changes led to a big jump for Kerala in the ease-of-doing-business ranking, placing us in the pole position. We are now on the right track, and things can take off from here.
Some see Kerala's presence in Davos as a contradiction to LDF's image?
Unfortunately, it shows some people have not understood the party. Way back in 1957, when Kerala got the nation's first democratically elected Communist government, they tried to get the Birlas to invest here. What does that show? That the government was taking decisions in the interest of the state. We are in a capitalist system and we must do things that help with the state's development and people find jobs. The government alone cannot invest. We need plenty of private investment and we are facilitating that. That is not contradictory to our party philosophy.
Are you hopeful of another stint as CM?
LDF's chances are bright. We have no doubts about getting re-elected. We will do well in West Bengal also. As for who should be the CM, my party will decide that. I don't.
After the Delhi elections, do you see the INDIA bloc relevant?
All of us joined together as we saw a clear threat to our Constitution, secularism and federalism from BJP being in power. We were confident that if all of us were united, we could defeat BJP. The idea was to go under the leadership of the regional parties in states where they are strong. But unfortunately, Congress deviated from this. They have this attitude that they were a big party earlier and had ruled all the states. They are still under that mindset and are unable to see the reality.
Congress' moves were disastrous before the Lok Sabha polls which helped BJP win Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. But we were able to establish a good climate around the time of the LS elections. BJP was confident that it would be back in power with a two-thirds majority and could pursue its agenda. Leave alone two-thirds, BJP did not even get a simple majority. It had to team up with two parties to get the numbers.
BJP's setback was due to the spirited fight from the INDIA bloc. We were supposed to further strengthen our unity from here. But Congress did not do that. That is what led to BJP's success in Haryana and Maharashtra. In Haryana, everyone thought BJP would lose. But Congress isolated friendly parties. In Maharashtra, it failed to unite the Opposition.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is facing problems for his positive comments on Kerala...
There is nothing to criticize about what Tharoor wrote. He only relied on data to say that Kerala has had progress far above the national average in establishing a startup ecosystem. In the ease of doing business, Kerala has risen from 26th place to first position. What is there to get agitated about? His comments are natural for a national leader concerned about his state. These (Congress) reactions are immature.
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The event has no relation to the assembly elections. It was an initiative focussed on Kerala's development. Unfortunately, Kerala did not see the development it deserved in the past. Kerala had its own pride of place in many areas earlier, but some did not progress over a period. In industrial development, we were not ahead because we were not getting the investment we needed. In view of all this, we began special efforts in 2016 to attract private capital. We have taken steps to make our state investor friendly. We figured some laws and regulations were posing a hurdle. We changed that and improved the investment climate. These changes led to a big jump for Kerala in the ease-of-doing-business ranking, placing us in the pole position. We are now on the right track, and things can take off from here.
Some see Kerala's presence in Davos as a contradiction to LDF's image?
Unfortunately, it shows some people have not understood the party. Way back in 1957, when Kerala got the nation's first democratically elected Communist government, they tried to get the Birlas to invest here. What does that show? That the government was taking decisions in the interest of the state. We are in a capitalist system and we must do things that help with the state's development and people find jobs. The government alone cannot invest. We need plenty of private investment and we are facilitating that. That is not contradictory to our party philosophy.
Are you hopeful of another stint as CM?
LDF's chances are bright. We have no doubts about getting re-elected. We will do well in West Bengal also. As for who should be the CM, my party will decide that. I don't.
After the Delhi elections, do you see the INDIA bloc relevant?
All of us joined together as we saw a clear threat to our Constitution, secularism and federalism from BJP being in power. We were confident that if all of us were united, we could defeat BJP. The idea was to go under the leadership of the regional parties in states where they are strong. But unfortunately, Congress deviated from this. They have this attitude that they were a big party earlier and had ruled all the states. They are still under that mindset and are unable to see the reality.
Congress' moves were disastrous before the Lok Sabha polls which helped BJP win Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. But we were able to establish a good climate around the time of the LS elections. BJP was confident that it would be back in power with a two-thirds majority and could pursue its agenda. Leave alone two-thirds, BJP did not even get a simple majority. It had to team up with two parties to get the numbers.
BJP's setback was due to the spirited fight from the INDIA bloc. We were supposed to further strengthen our unity from here. But Congress did not do that. That is what led to BJP's success in Haryana and Maharashtra. In Haryana, everyone thought BJP would lose. But Congress isolated friendly parties. In Maharashtra, it failed to unite the Opposition.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is facing problems for his positive comments on Kerala...
There is nothing to criticize about what Tharoor wrote. He only relied on data to say that Kerala has had progress far above the national average in establishing a startup ecosystem. In the ease of doing business, Kerala has risen from 26th place to first position. What is there to get agitated about? His comments are natural for a national leader concerned about his state. These (Congress) reactions are immature.
