"India needs a dictator"

Last week, Mukesh Khanna joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. Deepak Karambelkar discovers that his political views are forthright though sometimes rather naive, and more than a little controversial:

I joined the BJP for the country, which needs a stable government. The natak that has been going on since the last two years is pathetic. Today, everybody should come forward and say they are with the BJP. Give it a chance for the country’s sake. Other parties have shown their teeth and greed.

I am not doing it for any personal gain. The BJP is for the country, and Mukesh Khanna is also for the country. I joined the party when the date for filingnominations was over. This shows that I have no desire for a seat.

When I have the inclination and time. You give me any seat and, touch wood, I can become an MP. My record is not bad and I have no skeletons in my cupboards.

They can definitely create a difference as they are mass-oriented and can also win seats from safe constituencies. But parties usually use them as crowd-pullers.

The BJP has not lured me. I have come forward on my own. They have not even chalked out a campaign programme for me. In Mahabharat, Bhisma Pitahma was vivash to join politics, today Mukesh Khanna is vivash.

BJP is not anti-Muslim, it just wants to serve the country. Muslims have been used by the Congress. They now realise that the only thing theCongress has done in the last 50 years is join hands and take votes. They are not pro-Muslim, only pro-Muslim votes.

My father was in the RSS, so was my brother. All this Hindu-Muslim rift is due to anti-national elements who stir up trouble, then step back and watch the tamasha. Every Hindu has a Muslim friend and vice-versa. Muslims should realise this is their motherland, too.

I won’t like to comment on it as it is a sub judice matter. BJP has many things to take care of when it comes to power. Mandir Masjid is just one issue. We need to repair the country first for the damages done through corruption and lack of morality.

India needs a dictator for some time, but a dictator with a sincere honest mind who thinks about his country first and will resign after five years.

I would still invite a dictator. The average Hindustani has become lazy. Saale ko dande se marna chaheye — chal uth kaam kar. It is the country’s misfortune that there is no such leader. But someone will come from the RSS some day and lead the nation. Democracy has a lot of boons but a lot of banes as well. Currently we are in the bane period.

I have my doubts about her. She is not honest and hard-working enough to serve the country. Saying "I am your bahu" is ridiculous. But she is also afraid.

She has seen her own family getting finished by terrorism. Indians had not heard of that word before Indira Gandhi. Congress created the monster of Bhindranwale and Sonia’s apologising is a political ploy. Rajiv Gandhi should have done all that.

They were given a chance. The way they were formed — by removing the BJP — was pathetic. The handshakes andcoalitions were not for the country but to pull down the BJP. But I also wish they had survived for five years. We need a stable government, no matter which party.

No, I am very clear that my serials will not become BJP-oriented. There is no such commitment.

I cannot predict who will win, but I can answer who should — the BJP.