CAFE
COM:PORT
CHAT JOCKEYS
EVENTS

The Subramanian Swamy Chat

Satish K N (Mon Mar 23 1998 7:26 IST)
Dr Swamy: When are you bringing down the Vajpayee government?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 7:42 IST)
Satish: There is no question of my bringing down the Vajpayee government since I am part of the AIADMK alliance. The leader of the alliance has said that as long as the package for Tamil Nadu is implemented there will be no trouble from anybody in our alliance.

dutta (Mon Mar 23 1998 7:46 IST)
Dr.Swamy: Off late I find that you have lost your composure as a politician. First you were after Ms Jayalalitha. Now you have changed your colour and you support Ms Jayalalitha and talk in her favour. This shows that you have lost your political character and integrity. Don't you think that educated people of India understand politicians?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 7:53 IST)
DUTTA: I opposed Ms Jayalalitha when she was in office and I was in the Opposition. Today we are both in the Oppostion in Tamil Nadu and therefore for an effective Opposition to the DMK we need a strong opposition alliance. This kind of political strategy is not special to me. For example the BJP filed a petition containing 100 charges against the TDP chief minister, Mr Chandrababu Naidu. But today they have teamed up with them.

The BJP had also resolutely and vigorously opposed Ms Jayalalitha. In fact in 1996 when in the local body elections I had an alliance with her party, the BJP vociferously condemned it, but later on they also came on board when the Parliament elections were announced. The BJP today has an alliance with Bansi Lal who tried to put all of us in jail during the Emergency. Hence I need not be singled out for shifting and changing alliances from election to election.

We try to be consistent in ideology for national development but where it concerns vote pooling we have to determine who our principal opponent is and then ally with the others. Vote splitting would only help our opponents.

P K Madhu (Mon Mar 23 1998 7:47 IST)
Dr Swamy: Namaskaram. So what do we have here? Another bizarre twist. Is not what the BJP done a mockery of the consensus politics that Mr Vajpayee spoke about?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 7:55 IST)
Madhu: I assume we are referring to the new TDP-BJP alliance. This is the compulsion of the situation, otherwise the government would have had to resign following the failure to get its own Speaker elected. The real problem is for the United Front because its convener has bolted midstream.

Sanjay (Mon Mar 23 1998 7:47 IST)
Hello Mr Swamy: I have read that you have lot of contacts, in the Indian bureaucracy as there are many Tamilian Brahmins of your community working there. And that is why you are able to get the scams out?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 7:57 IST)
Sanjay: Not only Tamilian Brahmins but my former class-mates and my former students as well. Besides I have never betrayed my sources, so therefore there is confidence. Even those who do not know me that I will not let them down.

yale (Mon Mar 23 1998 7:49 IST)
Mr Swamy, do you agree with the following statement: You could be from Harvard and yet contribute only negatively to India? How come you have aligned with "anti-national" Jaya and Gopalsamy?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 7:59 IST)
Yale: I consider Jayalalitha a very patriotic Indian with a national outlook whatever else may be her shortcomings.

Goyal (Mon Mar 23 1998 7:49 IST)
Mr Swamy, Three years ago, Jayalalitha was a symbol of everything bad with Indian politics. Today you are with her. Is there any likelihood that you will not be with BJP after three years?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:1 IST)
Goyal: At the moment my alliance is with the AIADMK which was brought about in 1996. The BJP came on board only in November 1997. They have clearly declared that their alliance is with only the AIADMK and not with the Janata Party, hence the question of my leaving them does not arise.

Princess (Mon Mar 23 1998 7:49 IST)
Mr Swamy, years ago you said you will become prime minister in so many years. Well past that mark, whatever went wrong? Do you think you will still become PM some day?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:6 IST)
Princess: In 1980 in an answer to a question in a magazine I had said that I would be equipped to handle the post of the PM in 10 years. In fact in 1990 Mr Rajiv Gandhi had asked me to become the PM in place of Mr Chandra Shekhar. But since I was committed to making him the PM I thanked Mr. Gandhi and kept my commitment to Chandra Shekhar. Today I can say that if I am destined to be the PM I shall be. But that I am by experience and education equipped to be. I need your support and others like you.

yale (Mon Mar 23 1998 7:53 IST)
Has not nemesis caught up with you finally? The BJP dislikes you so much that it was willing to forsake forming a government just to keep you out. How come Jayalalitha was unable to help?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:8 IST)
Yale: The denial of a ministership to me despite my qualifications reflects more on those who denied it to me. As far as Jayalalitha is concerned I am thankful to her for all that she has done to defend my possible nomination as a minister.

Dr Velmurugan (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:7 IST)
Dr. Swamy>>> I am in Antwerp, Belgium. Could you please tell me what is going to be your STAND during the Vote of Confidence for the BJP government???

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:9 IST)
Dr Velmurugan: I am voting for the government since the AIADMK front is part of the government.

akumar (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:9 IST)
Dr.Swamy>> The PM needs to be a man with great political abilities than technical qualifications. What do you say to those who criticise for not having any political base of your own?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:11 IST)
A Kumar: As far as the political base is concerned I have already demonstrated it in Madurai in 1996 when standing all alone and in the face of a huge wave in favour of the DMK-TMC, I came second obtaining 1.45 lakh votes. This time in an alliance I have nearly doubled my votes and won the election. This will be my fifth term in Parliament.

PNA (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:1 IST)
Dr Swamy>> Have you withdrawn all the cases against Ms Jayalalitha. Now that you are partners, when are you going to do it? Was her demand that you be included in the Union ministry got anything to do with all the court cases?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:13 IST)
PNA: At the moment I have no cases pending against Ms Jayalalitha since in 1996 even before I entered into an alliance with her party the DMK govenment moved a petition in court and took away all my cases and vested it with the public prosecutor.

PNA (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:12 IST)
Dr Swamy>> winning in one constituency does not constitute a wide political base. I K Gujral wins elections, but does he have a political base??

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:15 IST)
PNA: I K Gujral won with the help of the chief minister of the state while I won against the DMK government and from a constituency which was considered a strong hold of the Dravida Kazhagam movement.

nagendra (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:8 IST)
Mr Swamy: How do you explain the fact that you became a hurdle in the formation of a government led by Atalji, when you knew that it was because of his image, a swing in favour of your alliance was there.

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:18 IST)
Nagendra: In 1996 the BJP candidate in Madurai got just 10,000 while I got nearly 1.45 lakh votes coming second in the constituency. Therefore, it is to be deduced by you as to the contribution made by the BJP and its leadership to my victory especially in the context that the BJP vice-president had declared publically that they have no alliance with me and don't care for me, which announcement was made in the middle of the election.

Comman Man (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:19 IST)
Dr.Swamy, Please don't give me all that "you won fighting against the DMK". You basically have a vote bank of yours. The Tamil Brahmin community of Madurai.

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:20 IST)
Common Man: the Tamil Brahmin community of Madurai is less than one per cent of the electorate.

Dr Velmurugan (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:16 IST)
Dr. Swamy>>> Are you confident of REALISING your claim of raising the Periyar Dam level? If you are able to put it across would you RESIGN?

Dr Velmurugan (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:18 IST)
Dr. Swamy>>> You are claiming to raise the level of the Periyar Dam. But are you due consideration the RISK ASPECTS involved in raising the level of the DAM to 152 feet because it has been already pointed out by the experts it is very unsafe. What is your ARGUMENT for this please?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:20 IST)
Velmurugan: The Central Water Commission has certified that there is no danger to the water level of the Periyar dam being 152 feet.

Harvard (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:9 IST)
Mr. Swamy, were you tenured at Harvard?

Harvard (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:19 IST)
Dr Swamy, where did you live in Boston/Cambridge?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:22 IST)
Harvard: I lived in Fernald Drive which is in Cambridge and part of the Harvard university faculty housing. Before marriage I was a resident tutor in addition to my teaching position in Lowell House which is an undergraduate residency.

Comman Man (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:21 IST)
How do you plan to scuttle the BJP government from functioning smoothly Dr. Swamy? How can a man who opposed Vajapayee at a personal level be made a finance minister in his own cabinet ?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:25 IST)
Common Man: I have no intention of scuttling the BJP front government since I am part of the AIADMK-led front. As long as they allow me to develop my constituency I shall give them no trouble. As far as the finance ministership is concerned, in politics there is no room for personal likes and dislikes, but only national interests. This is what the RSS needs to be educated on.

T Manivannan (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:23 IST)
Hi Swamy When I can expect a high court bench in Madurai?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:25 IST)
Manivannan: Yes, very much so and I shall take some steps in April.

akumar (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:23 IST)
Dr Swamy>> Why did you want to be the finance minister? What specific action plans do you have as the FM?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:27 IST)
AKumar: I did not want to be the finance minister. Since my name was proposed I was happy because it would enable me to apply some of the prescriptions I have been writing about for the last 25 years. Abolition of personal income tax, financing a southern rivers water grid and making Bombay and Tuticorin free ports like Hong Kong.

T Manivannan (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:24 IST)
Do you have any plan for Periyar Bus Stand, Madurai?

T Manivannan (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:27 IST)
What is your plan for developing Madurai?

T Manivannan (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:31 IST)
Are you going to do any development around Jaihindupuram area?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:31 IST)
Mannivannan: Madurai is a decaying city which needs immediate modernisation. I happy to report that the Internet and cellular phones are coming at the end of this month to the city which would enable us to entice the industry to consider Madurai as a destination. What, however, I feel needs to be done urgently is to be build a commuter electric train service linking adurai to Tuticorin, Madurai to Virudunagar and Madurai to Dindugal. Then we need to make Madurai airport an international airport and bring the automobile factories to the city because it has the best automobile spare parts network. This will do for a start.

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:35 IST)
Mannivannan: Jaihindpuram, Subrahmaniampuram and such like slum areas require: 1. A responsive municipal corporation which I will try as an ex-offcio memeber of the corporation. 2. A World Bank financed slum renewal project, which finance they are giving all over the world but we in India have not bothered to exploit.

akumar (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:31 IST)
Dr Swamy>> Do you think it is ethical to use your sources in the Indian bureaucracy to bring charges against ministers, only to withdraw them later?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:33 IST)
AKumar: I have not withdrawn any case filed against anybody. In the public interest and transparency in decision making it is vital for a democracy to expose the corrupt acts of ministers.

maverick (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:32 IST)
Dr Swamy, what do you see your role in the future of this government?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:38 IST)
Maverick: That is for Mr Vajpayee to decide. As for me I shall work on developing Madurai.

Comman Man (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:38 IST)
Dr Swamy, Is ABOLITION OF INCOME TAX even practical??

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:41 IST)
Common Man: Income tax only contributes only 3% in net terms to the government revenue. Its abolition will lead to the shooting up of the domestic savings and hence industrial growth through new investments. This in turn will bring more than 4% of the present revenue through indirect taxes such as excise.

T Manivannan (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:40 IST)
Do you have office at Madurai? So that I will communicate as a voter from Madurai.

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:41 IST)
Mannivannan: Yes, it is in Bibikulam. Telephone no: 533636/533626

Pratik (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:39 IST)
Dr. Swamy: Do you feel cheated by the post poll scenario which could not get you the position you deserved....

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:43 IST)
Pratik: No. Because positions come and positions go and nothing is permanent in politics.

Dr Velmurugan (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:35 IST)
Dr. Swamy>>> I am really surprised by your statements that you are planning for providing suburban train services for Madurai. Do you have TRANSPORTATION DEMAND STUDY RESULTS to substantiate your argument? Please talk some realistic things.

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:45 IST)
Dr. Velmurugan: I shall certainly approach RITES, for such a project report and also meet my former students in high positions in the World Bank to obtain international assistance.

Goyal (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:43 IST)
Mr Swamy, where do you live in India? Do you live in your constituency?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:46 IST)
Goyal: I live in Delhi when Parliament is in session and in Madurai when I am not on tour in some other state.

maverick (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:48 IST)
Dr. Swamy, It's time for you to really introspect as to why there is no difference between a Harvard-educated like yourself and a village bumpkin/goon like Laloo ! Any comments ?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:49 IST)
Maverick: At least Laloo lives in India and has not run away to America and ask smart alec questions in the comfort of the USA.

arcnik (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:48 IST)
You once said you were a National politician. Today, I am saddened to see you cling to regionalism, project yourself as a Tamil politician. What has happened Dr Swamy for you to undergo this strange metamorphosis?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:51 IST)
arcnik: Just because I talk about my constituency does not make me regional minded. In Parliament I shall continue to raise national issues besides those of Madurai.

JaiBJP (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:50 IST)
Swamy> I couldn't understand your propostion of free flow of labour into countries like the USA. Could you spell it out please?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:53 IST)
JaiBJP: If capital is to be permitted to be free flow into India then why not the other factor of production -- labour -- in which we have an advantage be allowed to freely travel to developed countries in search of jobs?

Nachiketa (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:53 IST)
All: One of the messages of Srimad Bhagwadgita is that excess of knowledge, if not tempered with a sense proprietry, leads men to became arrogant.

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:55 IST)
Nachiketa: the message of the Bhagavad Geeta is that there is no such thing as excess knowledge. I suggest you read the Bhagvad Geeta, again preferably in Sanskrit or Hindi.

karthik subbiah (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:53 IST)
Dr. Swamy, I want to ask you this question: 1) Did you ever think that your alliance with Ms Jayalalitha would give her the political legitimacy and credibility that she badly needed after the 1996 election. Since you were at the head of the anti-Jayalalitha campaign and exposing the acts of omission and commission of her venal dispensation? Don't think that it contributed to her alleged (self-claimed) resurgence?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:58 IST)
Karthik Subbiah: I am no one to give political legitimacy to Jayalalitha. It is the utter mismanagement and misrule by Karunanidhi which has made Jayalalitha's tenure look good. It is the people who have given legitimacy to her and in a democracy people are masters.

akumar (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:56 IST)
Dr Swamy>> No matter how you vote, it is not going to hurt the BJP a bit, (with the new BJP-TDP allinace in place). What to do you have to say?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:0 IST)
AKumar: My vote doesn't matter but if the BJP government fails to deliver the goods the people's vote will matter. No matter how dedicated you may be to the BJP remember they have got a drubbing in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Haryana.

Goyal (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:58 IST)
When you were part of the Chandrashekhar government, did you try to project your free labour market philosophy?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:2 IST)
Goyal: I led the Indian delegation to the Uruguay round of talks which drafted the final GATT draft. It was for the first time an Indian minister had raised this question and after a great deal of resistance it was agreed that construction workers canb be temporarily taken abroad without the barriers of immigration laws. But we have to push for more.

Goyal (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:2 IST)
Mr Swamy, will you be willing to join another chat like this in future?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:3 IST)
Goyal: Yes any time you make a demand.

T Manivannan (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:2 IST)
What is your plan for Solavanthan being your native town?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:5 IST)
Mannivannan: Although Solvanthan is a part of Dindugal parliamentary constituency I have decided to fight for assured water supply for that town. My village Mullipallam has been gifted by me a school building for which they waited for nearly 25 years. So from time to time I will take interest in Solvantham also.

karthik subbiah (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:4 IST)
Dr. Swamy, I meant that when people like you, who had exposed the corrupt regime of hers, and expoused the cause of Mrs Chandralekha, have an electoral understanding with her, that I think is what has given her the gumption to say that she has not done any wrong? Dr. Swamy I am also concerned at the manner in which her political side-kicks have started a "prove-Jayalalitha's-innocence" campaign? I am talking about Mr Thambidurai's utterances, that all these cases were foisted on her? Does this not question your credibility too. After all, you had and have all the facts about those acts of omission and commission?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:10 IST)
Karthik Subbiah: Ms Jayalalitha in an interview to a Bombay magazine herself said that she made many mistakes which she will by experience now not repeat. We are a nation who respect those who are willing to say that they have been wrong. This does not justify the crude propoganda of Mr Karunanidhi or the harsh way they incarcerated Ms Jayalalitha. Mr Karunanidhi should give a good government instead of being obsessed with Ms Jayalalitha and her wardrobe.

Jay (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:7 IST)
Dr. Swamy - This is Jay from Arizona, USA.. Congrats on your election from Madurai. Pleasure being with you online... I know you did a lot of good job in cementing relations with China. Why not make your special China 'clout' available to the Vajpayee government?

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:12 IST)
Jay: Mr Vajpayee fully knows my contributions in developing the India-China relations since he was the Janata Party's foreign minister. Just because he is now in the BJP does not mean that he will forget this.

PNA (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:34 IST)
Dr.Swami>> About your plans for Madurai. Where is the money going to come from? How much of it is actually going to be spent on the project ?? [The street where my folks live in Madurai doesn't even have a pucca road while according to records roads have been laid and paid for.]... And what is the time frame?

PNA (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:11 IST)
Dr Swamy>> What was so harsh in the way the DMK govt treated Ms Jaya. Please EXPLAIN.

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:13 IST)
PNA: I think you should access the newspaper accounts of late 1996 to get the details. Here I don't have the time to respond.

PNA (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:54 IST)
Dr.Swamy>> Being in India is not a pre-requisite to ask questions in this forum. GET YOUR ACT STRAIGHT. if you cannot answer, please don't.

PNA (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:55 IST)
Dr.Swamy>> It is very wrong of you say what you said about people going to the USA. Do you have the guts to admit that you are wrong ????

PNA (Mon Mar 23 1998 8:59 IST)
Dr Swamy>> How much time do you intend to devote 1) for your constituency 2) to national issues 3) filing frivolous cases 3) squabbling 3) doing nothing.

PNA (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:7 IST)
Dr.Swamy>> do you want to tell us all what kind of questions you are willing to answer ??.

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:16 IST)
PNA: I am willing to answer non-pedantic specific questions which are untainted by RSS propaganda.

Gopala (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:14 IST)
Dr Swamy : What kind of economic policy would you have formulated, if you were given the finance ministry??

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:17 IST)
Gopala: You should read my book Building a new India published by UBS.

PNA (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:13 IST)
Dr Swamy>. Every politician says that he has made mistakes in the past and won't repeat it. Why should we believe you and Ms Jaya now? Is she going to give back all the wealth she amassed back to the people...

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:20 IST)
PNA: The people of Tamil Nadu who voted overwhelmingly for us and the BJP which was subsequently enabled to form a government with our alliance, have clearly dismissed your synthetic outrage as unworthy of notice. They have upheld my political alliance with Jayalalitha.

Ramani (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:18 IST)
Dr. Swamy, Why are you always opposed to people in power? First you were against Jayalalitha when she was in power. Now you are with her and against Karunanidhi who is in power. Is it because you think you get fame when you oppose people in power??

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:22 IST)
Ramani: I believe in transparency in politics and therefore to speak the truth as I see it. We are still, however, in a feudal society where the concept of revealing "family secrets," is taboo and that it is why my expose of even people in my own party is not appreciated in some circles but that will not deter me since the people are with me.

Dr Subramanian Swamy (Mon Mar 23 1998 9:32 IST)
Nice communicating with all of you. If you are so deeply interested in India pack up your bags and come here and clean up the place. Let us see if you can do a better job than me. To the neutral questioners thank you very much and to those brainwashed by the RSS I hope you are liberated soon. Thank You.