No such thing as fronts, declares NDA convenor George Fernandes, confident of an absolute majority for the NDA. There are only two fronts, thunders Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan as he welcomes erstwhile foe Mayawati to a ‘secular front’. Excerpts from interviews with Varghese K. George NDA convenor George Fernandes says he has not changed his political course at all. Fernandes talks about his colleague Nitish Kumar, ‘‘friend’’ Mulayam Singh Yadav and his political journey from leftwing to rightwing. • You may not trust the exit polls predicting bad times for NDA? I don’t trust them at all. We will get an absolute majority. • Then you will dismiss the Bihar government? Yes, we will. • But your colleague Nitish Kumar thinks your repeated statements about dismissing the state government have helped Laloo consolidate his base. Is there a rift in JDU on dismissing the Bihar government? Nitish has a different opinion on this. But I don’t think my talking about imposing President’s rule in Bihar anyway helps Laloo Prasad. In 1999, I said the same thing and we won the elections. • Do you have a communication line open to Laloo? Wasn’t Laloo soft on you in Muzaffarpur, by fielding an inconsequential candidate against you? Absolute rubbish. He could not get a good candidate against me. • Some of your prominent colleagues during the JP movement were campaigning against you. They feel you have betrayed them by joining hands with the BJP. I have no reason to be apologetic about anything that I have done. Politics is an arena where situations change constantly. You respond to the situations accordingly. After the China war Dr Lohia had called upon everyone to come together to defeat the Congress which he called a national shame. I am still pursuing that course. • Your joining hands with the rightwing of Indian politics is not a change in your original course of socialism? In 1967 all parties, including the Jan Sangh and the Communists came together to defeat the Congress. And I have stuck to that political stand. • So it is your critics such as the communists who dropped their anti-Congress agenda. You continue to oppose the Congress. Absolutely. It is they who joined with the Congress. • Is there a possibility of a non-Congress, non-BJP front? Is a Third Front relevant? No scope for a Third Front at all. In the foreseeable future we will move towards a two-party, rather two-front system. • Statements by you and the Prime Minister on Mulayam Singh Yadav being a ‘‘friend’’ are said to be calculated and deliberate to create confusion among Mulayam’s Muslim voters. Is that so? Not at all. I cannot play games with Mulayam. He has been a friend for long. In the socialist movement and more particularly, when the Congress and the Left boycotted me in the Parliament, he stood up for me. He will remain a friend. • So he is future ally? He has his own party and is a dedicated person. He perhaps believes in the so called Third Front. • But he is a friend you will count on in a time of crisis? I won’t say that. He is someone whose works cannot be ignored. That is the reason why someone who rejected him yesterday (Laloo Yadav) are today trying to clarify their positions. He is in demand.
