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The Rediff Election Interview/ Salman Khurshid

'I would be quite happy if the Congress crosses the political credibility line'

When Salman Khurshid was appointed president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee one-and half-years ago, many felt that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had made a grave error of judgement. But Khurshid, without bothering to answer his critics, got down to the work of rebuilding the party. It was not an easy task. In the last general election, the Congress had failed to win even a single Lok Sabha seat in UP. And this, in a state that was once considered a party stronghold.

Khurshid reorganised the UPCC and launched a massive interaction programme with the grassroots workers. The response he generated was astounding. Everything seemed to be going his way till his wife Louise Fernandes-Khurshid was nominated as the party candidate from the family borough of Farukkhabad. His rivals in the party were quick to level charges of favouritism against him. But Khurshid -- whose maternal grandfather was Dr Zakir Husain and father is Karnataka Governor Khurshid Alam Khan -- preferred to remain silent once again and busied himself in preparing the party for the 1999 election.

In this interview with Onkar Singh he yet again refused to join issues with those who have been critical of the way he has been leading the UPCC. "I have been assigned a certain task by the Congress president. Once the results start coming in my critics would have to shut their mouths forever," he said.

There were some people in the party who did not like your appointment as the UPCC chief. In fact, when elections were announced they were happy because they felt the Congress stood no chance under your leadership.

I know there is a section in the party which has been critical of my appointment. But the results from UP will speak for my performance.

How many seats do you expect to win?

I don't want to paint a rosy picture. But I must say we all have worked very hard to revive the Congress party in the state. We have had to rebuild the organisation in the state from scratch. We achieved the almost impossible task of winning back the minorities.

In the last one-and-a-half years we have taken a number of steps to revive the traditional Congress vote bank. Muslims are coming back to the Congress fold in large numbers. We are confident the support will translate into votes and the party would regain its lost status in the state.

Have you set some target for yourself in terms of number of seats?

No, I have not set any such target. I would be quite happy if the Congress crosses the political credibility line. This means we must win at least 22 per cent of the total votes. Once we do that, we would be back in the state as an alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Congress seems to be losing its touch with the masses across the country.

There are different reasons for different states. We lost the faith of the electorate because of some unwise political decisions. People have been angry with us because we did not support their demands on some issues and on others we took decision that were not acceptable to the masses.

In UP the answers are a little more complicated and that is why the losses the party suffered in the state were the greatest. Social contexts are changing very fast. There are forces that are going to be unleashed and we need to come to grips with them. These forces depend largely on caste combinations. Then there are forces of religion unleashed by the BJP and the minority communities's reaction to them.

Instead of the Congress winning the confidence of the minorities, we have allowed Mulayam Singh Yadav to exploit the situation to his political advantage. We have made the blunder of depending upon others to fight the BJP.

Some people in the party are critical because you got a ticket for your wife.

I am aware of the criticism. But nobody realises that there were only three names from the Farukkhabad parliamentary constituency. First was the name of my father and the governor of Karnataka, Khurshid Alam Khan, the second was my own name and the third was that of Louise Khurshid. Since there was no other names, where is the question of favouring my wife?

Is the Congress president happy with you?

Sonia Gandhi had entrusted a task to me and I am doing my best to live up to her expectations. I have been interacting with the Congress president and she has not given me the impression that she is unhappy with my efforts.

The Rediff Election Interviews

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