lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Apr 25, 2019 07:27 IST

Former international cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party last month, is making his electoral debut from the East Delhi constituency this election. Although he lives in the New Delhi Lok Sabha segment, he does not consider himself to be an “outsider” in east Delhi. “I am a Delhi boy and that’s enough,” he said in an interview. Excerpts

Q. Your opponents are calling you an outsider to the constituency. Congress candidate Arvinder Singh Lovely said that his opponents are here on ‘political tourism’. How do you react to it?

A. I don’t know where it is coming from. I’m a Delhi boy. I’m born and brought up in Delhi. If I live in New Delhi constituency, then it doesn’t mean that I only belong to that area. My father has been running a business in Gandhi Nagar in east Delhi for the last 45 years. He is into textile trade. And people are saying that I am an outsider. How can I be an outsider? It is a ridiculous allegation.

Q. What according to you are the major issues in East Delhi constituency?

A. I have just started and I am not going to say anything that I don’t have knowledge of. Today is my second day. All I can say is if everything falls in place, I’ll not take five years to deliver. I’ll not make promises that I can’t deliver. Our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has delivered on his promises. I don’t know about the issues in the constituency, but whenever I get to know about them, I’ll not take four years to deliver. I will probably not take even two years to solve the issues. I’ll try to make East Delhi the best constituency in Delhi.

Q. What will be your poll plank?

A. We will not criticise anyone and I have told all my party workers about it. We will talk about our party’s vision for the country and the city. We will tell people to join us and assure them that they will see results.

The country is standing at a crossroads where you need a strong leadership. And the PM (Narendra Modi) has given us strong leadership….The response of the previous government after 26/11 and the present government after Uri attack and then the Balakot airstrike (is a case in point).

In Delhi, chief minister (Arvind Kejriwal) has not delivered on his promises in the last four-and-a-half years. They have stalled the schemes such as Ayushman Bharat launched by the Centre. It has been implemented in the country, but not in Delhi. What is the fault of poor people? They promised Wi-Fi, CCTV cameras, security in DTC buses. But they have not delivered on their promises.

My first reason for joining politics was that I was influenced by the PM and his vision for the country. The second important reason was the way Delhi chief minister has betrayed the people of Delhi.

Q. One of the key issues affecting the traders in Delhi is that of sealing. There is resentment in the community that little has been done by the central government to stop it. How will reach out to them?

A. All I am going to say is that I need to know about this. The day I’ll get full information about it, only then I can answer (it). If I say something and I am not able to do it or if it is not possible to implement, then it is wrong on my part. I need to have proper knowledge about it. And I have a fabulous team and they will surely tell me about the best solution.