Just two days, before the nuke deal you switched allegiance to the BSP and told me that Muslims do not vote on issues related to foreign policy.
That is true. For me the nuclear deal was very important, but for ordinary Muslims it may not be because they don’t vote on such issues. Muslims voted for the SP and the Congress. They didn’t vote for parties opposing the deal like the CPM. Look anywhere around you, Indians don’t vote on foreign policy issues; but that does not mean that I should not have my views on it. I felt the nuke deal was not in the country’s interest. Everybody, including Mulayam Singh, agreed but suddenly there was a switch. It was a deflection of the party from its own ideology. Now they agree with what I said. They say that it was a mistake to support the Manmohan Singh government and the Congress on the deal.
Why did Amar Singh take that decision?
That’s what I wanted to know. They told me this is politics, you won’t understand. I don’t know how the nuke deal can be politics because it involves the country’s future, its environment’s future, its generations’ future. Energy security is extremely important for India, but there should be no investment in nuclear energy. We will need it after 30 years. Right now it is solar, hydro and wind energy that we require. I got so involved with the issue that I went to the US to study the whole energy security question. How was the West planning its energy requirements? Suddenly I was told that I was wrong.
Why did you lose Bijnor?
There were two reasons. First, I did not have money. People before me had lots of money and the media was for sale. The media played a big role in defeating me because I did not have the money to pay them. So you get negative reports, get blackmailed openly by the media barons. They told me that for not publishing damaging news about me “aapko 25 percent ka discount ho jayega”. The person who was contesting before was part of the mining mafia – Avtar Singh Bhadana – who was spending crore of rupees. He came from the SP, then switched over to the NCP. Secondly, the BSP coordinator worked overtime to defeat me. He told every MLA, “Agar yeh jeet gaya to tum sabko agla ticket nahin milega.” I got the DM changed to an honest one. I saw that many of the trucks were impounded. They were making money from the traffic movements between UP and Uttaranchal. I got that stopped. Here I was fighting to stop corruption, but then I saw that my own party people were totally corrupted. I was defeated by 20,000 seats. I got more votes than most of these people. Five MLAs who were working there had done nothing, and I had to face the music for them. There was no electricity or development. People are angry. UP is in a real bad shape
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So these MLAs were able to work against you despite knowing that Mayawati wanted you to win?
Mayawati called them, but they did not bother. She told me that she would take action against them. But after the elections she said, “Abhi kuch nahin kar sakte, ye bhaag jayenge.” These MLAs only want their family members in the party, no one form outside it.
What is Shahid Siddiqui’s political future now?
The future is very bright. Political activists who can speak their mind should come together and form a group, rising above party divisions and working for better governance and delivery. I feel democracy has failed somewhere. It is not just about collections. Corruption is eating into the core of our democracy. You can’t fight it unless you can rise above party divisions. There is autocracy in the parties, which needs to be fought. We have a semi-feudal democracy, and I have believed this to be true for years. I would like thinking people, not just those who are in politics but also those who say that corrupt people have spoilt politics, to come forward.
What about the SP?
I am not going anywhere right now. I am going to enjoy my freedom. If the SP democratises and changes itself, then I will welcome that. I feel regional parties are most important because India is a federal society and it has to be decentralised. There are so many interests that they can’t all be handled by a single party, so we need regional parties. And these need to interact with each other. Because of the anti-deflection law you can’t say anything in Parliament too. Earlier you used to have 200 days of Parliament sessions; now there are hardly 80-90 days. Nobody cares. Where is the point in wasting the nation’s time in discussing things in Parliament if you can’t convince or be convinced? I believe that neither does Parliament nor our parties offer a platform. What kind of democracy is this? So I believe if I join a party again my voice will be stifled.
WRITER’S EMAIL
shammy@tehelka.com
