India one community, prefer to lose than get votes on religion: Modi

The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi today said there was no question of ever talking only to the Muslim community to seek their votes, saying that he would always talk to Indians as a whole community and not on the basis of their religion. “I won’t be a part of such divisive politics. I am willing to lose this election if need be,” he told CNBC-Awaaz’s Sanjay Pugalia in an exclusive interview. “Those who want to work on this plank can continue to do so but I will work on my own plank of development,” he added. The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate said that the nation had been divided multiple times in the past on the basis of religion and it needed to move forward together as a nation. He said he would never speak to people on the basis of their religion but would treat them all equally, as Indians. [caption id=“attachment_1486299” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Modi refused to address the Muslim community directly. PTI[/caption] He said that there was no question of ever having any scheme to reach out to only the Muslim community and was a “strong opponent” to the idea.   Modi said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s meeting with the Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid wasn’t wrong, but doing it to influence the community’s votes was in violation of the Election Commission’s model code of conduct. “I would want Sonia Gandhi meet all communities. It is part of her responsibilities. But what message are you trying to give? That is worrying,” he said. Modi also took the opportunity to take a pot-shot at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and said that after reading Singh’s former communication advisor’s book he felt that the PM was under pressure from just one family. Modi, a former member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, defended the organisation and said that it had become ‘fashion’ to criticise the right wing group whenever the Congress was in dire straits. “It has become a fashion in our country that whenever the Congress is going through a bad phase, people emerge to abuse the RSS. It is a cultural organisation and many vested interest groups are attempting to hurt it with their statements,” he said. “It is the biggest non-governmental organisation. Its capabilities should be admired and used for the benefit of the people”. Modi also said he knew many people in the RSS who were working for the underprivileged and added that while he had been associated with the organisation in his youth it had never encouraged them to work in a communal fashion. He blamed the Congress for resulting in the deterioration of the federal structure of the country and said that in the event he became the prime minister he would ensure a ‘family-like’ environment between the Centre and states. He spoke in favour of privatisation of public industries should be done on a case by case basis. “We should give them the opportunity of turning themselves around based on professional advice,” he said. Modi also said that if his party forms the next government they will work to push through the contentious Goods and Services Tax. “Until we strengthen the information network, GST is impossible. The Centre will have to treat states as equals. It has to taken them on board for all decisions. We agree on the need for GST but there should be advance work done,” he said. He refused to be drawn into making any promises on delivering any policies in a fixed time frame. “Governance is a serious business and decisions should be taken thoughtfully. People should be evaluating the government on its five year performance,” he said, adding that people shouldn’t be made false promises of new schemes in a short time frame.