Kumar Vishwas defended his praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that it didn't mean he was switching parties.

New Delhi: The silence of the voluble Kumar Vishwas over the last few months has been confounding for political pundits. The senior AAP leader, believed to be a staunch right winger in a party with a pronounced Left leaning, has gone into a shell after his general election defeat to Rahul Gandhi and Smriti Irani in the high profile Amethi constituency. This has allowed the rumour mills to go on the overdrive on his next course of action. Is he joining the BJP? Is he quitting the AAP? Is he unhappy with Arvind Kejriwal? In an interview with Firstpost, the poet-turned-assistant professor-turned politician puts at rest most of these questions.

Q: There is a strong rumour that you would be joining the BJP. Is it true?

A: I don’t know about the source of this rumour. But, I can say with conviction that I’m not joining the BJP. I appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally visiting the flood-hit Jammu & Kashmir to oversee the relief work. Even the day Modi went to Japan, I had tweeted that this was a welcome move. If a PM is doing well, I have every right to praise him. This does not mean that I am joining the BJP.

Q: You are a senior leader of the AAP, a party locked in a power struggle with the BJP in Delhi. Should you be so open in your appreciation of Modi?

A: I believe in constructive politics. If the former PM Rajiv Gandhi could send BJP leader Atal Behari Vajpayee as part of the UN delegation to the US, why can’t I appreciate country’s PM? If I have appreciated Modi, I also questioned how could Nihal Chand be inducted as minister in his cabinet despite of having rape charges levelled against him?

Q: Many believe your praise of Modi was aimed at hogging the limelight?

A: I praised Modi even before the AAP was formed or he became the PM. I was invited to Gujarat four times in the past in functions, when Modi was the chief minister, and I participated there as a poet. So, my knowing Modi is nothing new. He has been made a PM, it’s the people of this country who chose him, so we should give him a chance.

Q: On 30 August, you alleged that you were offered the Delhi CM's seat by a BJP MP. How far is it true, and who was it?

A: It’s true that I was approached by a BJP MP with the offer and now this piece of information is in public domain. (While, Vishwas didn’t reveal the name, another senior leader of the AAP, Manish Sisodia told Firstpost that the offer was made to Vishwas by the BJP MP Manoj Tiwari).

Q: But, you reportedly said in a TV interview that if AAP had objections to your performing on Modi’s birthday, they might expel you. How far is it true?

A: I said if the party (or anyone) has any objection to my poetry or to my oration at public functions – which is my creative side -they may expel me. I’ll leave party if anyone comes between my poetry and me.

Q: You also have been critical of your own party chief Arvind Kejriwal?

A: Nowhere did I criticise him in person. I said agitational politics is not going to help the AAP. Being in government, you can’t sit on a dharna or stage demonstration on each and every issue. We shouldn’t behave like a ‘typical political party’. It’s not possible to remain in the Congress after criticising Rahul Gandhi or in the BJP by criticising Modi; whereas, Yogendra Yadav continues to be in AAP despite disagreeing with Kejriwal. Later, Kejriwal came in support of Yadav, stating that the latter was like his elder brother. This is the beauty of democracy in AAP.

Q: Still, don’t you think that speaking against the party is incorrect?

A: Ramvilas Paswan had been a strong critic of Modi for the last 10 years, but today he’s a minister in his cabinet, with an important portfolio. Same is the case with Jagdambika Pal, who as a Congress leader had criticised Modi in the past, but is in the BJP today as an MP. I may not always give ‘politically correct’ statements, but I don’t think I was wrong by questioning the party’s decisions.

Q: Some feel your interview to the TV channel was timed to distract the public attention from the 'cash for support' sting operation conducted by the AAP on a senior BJP functionary...

A: The channel head can reply on that better. I was called for the interview on Tuesday. I was in talks with the channel over the last few days, and I got a call yesterday.