The BJD has decided for many years to maintain an equidistant posture from the BJP and the Congress. The BJD has decided for many years to maintain an equidistant posture from the BJP and the Congress.

What is the BJD’s stance on the controversies around Sushma Swaraj, S S Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje?

The BJD has decided for many years to maintain an equidistant posture from the BJP and the Congress. Anybody tainted with any scam should demit office… For instance people like Chouhan and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. If exonerated they can return to office. An example has been set by none other than L K Advani.

So the BJD does want Sushma, Chouhan and Raje to quit.

I am not naming anybody. Say Chouhan or Pradhan… Sushma too can be thrown into the same basket. It will also be a fillip to the BJP in Bihar elections if the investigation proves them clean.

How does the BJD see the fight between the Congress and the BJP, scam vs scam?

I believe that both these national parties have turned into rotten eggs. People of India gave their verdict last year and punished the Congress. The BJP would do well to keep its own house clean. One rotten egg has been thrown out and the other is waiting to go.

The Opposition says the BJP has been taking advantage of being the ruling party to win some regional parties over.

I pity any regional party that gets bullied by a national party. Its’ only murkiness and wrongdoing that will enable others to blackmail. We have always been a clean party.

Where does the BJD stand on legislation stalled, such as the GST and land bills?

Our party believes that when land is taken for any commercial activities, the landholder should be made a shareholder along with the panchayat. Unless this change is made, we cannot support the bill in its present shape. Social impact assessment too should be done. We have supported the GST bill wholeheartedly. But now we have a sneaking suspicion the government itself is not interested in pushing the bill… There is a possibility that the government is, if not backtracking, slow-pedalling assuming they are on a bicycle (the electoral symbol of the TDP and the SP).

How do you see the future of this session?

When I speak as an MP, not on my behalf of the party, I see the government itself has brought down the session from four weeks to three. Already three days have been wasted. The BJP too held placards despite Speaker’s requests; they came into the well… If the Congress has done something wrong for which it was punished last year, it is not necessary for the BJP to do the same.

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