Speaking on Opposition unity, the Madhya Pradesh CM said, “It’s only been six months since BJP has got these numbers. I agree there is little coordination between Opposition parties. Opposition has to come together with a joint strategy. Several states are worried that Centre will cut off their funds.”

When he was asked if Jyotiraditya Scindia would be a possible Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh next year, Nath said it is possible. “Next year, three Rajya Sabha seats are set to come from Madhya Pradesh. Congress is likely to get two and Scindia could be one of them,” said Nath.

The Madhya Pradesh CM slammed the Women and Child minister Smriti Irani for demanding an apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his statement on the rising rapes in India. “What should he apologise for? He has only stated what their leader Narendra Modi said in 2014,” quipped Nath, whose began his life as a politician wih his election to the seventh Lok Sabha in 1980.

Going down the memory lane, Nath said the India of then and the India now are different. “I have traversed paths many have not traversed. I was first elected to the seventh Lok Sabha. At that time many had come to politics from the freedom struggle. It was the time of Jyotirmoy Bosu (of CPI(M)), Biju Patnaik (Janata Dal) and Jagjivan Ram. Through these years we have also changed and the way we perceive ourselves has also changed,” added Nath.

Speaking of his term as Chief Minister in Madhya Pradesh, Nath said that dues of 20,40,000 farmers had been written off debts of the 38 lakh farmers. In the next Assembly session, he is looking to write off more loans. “We are not only writing off loans of those who have defaulted, but also of those who have been paying off their loans as otherwise it will seem that only those who defaulted will benefit from government policies,” explained Nath.

Alluding to BJP’s attempts to lure Congress MLAs, Nath quipped that Madhya Pradesh was not Karnataka. “They are trying through every way possible. But, I got two BJP MLAs to vote for our policies,” underscored Nath.

Elaborating on transforming governance in Madhya Pradesh, Nath pointed out that “BJP has tried to saffronise every institution. We have had to reconstitute a large number of them. We changed the Vice Chancellor of the Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication. I appointed Deepak Tiwari who has written against me. But, he has experience,” contended Nath.