Shankersinh Vaghela interview: ''There is nothing free. I tell voters, don’t fall for revdis'
Shankersinh Vaghela: “Be it any party, it is not the party, but the money that is running it. Only someone who has crores of money, only they can run a party, otherwise no.”
You were the last political leader to launch a third front in Gujarat, but that did not succeed, why?
VAGHELA: Whoever has money and launches a party, those parties work. Only (a combination of) money and manpower work. Sometimes it depends on the individual… There was the Mahagujarat Janata party, Swatantra Party, they ran, but on money power.
Be it AAP or any party, it is not the party, but the money that is running it. Only someone who has crores of money, only they can run a party, otherwise no.
So you are saying that they (AAP) have that kind of money?
VAGHELA: Paisa only runs, nothing else does. The difference between Indian politics between 1947 and 1952 (when the first elections were held) and after, is that after Independence, those who entered politics, they were ones who had got beaten up, left their homes, parents, for a national cause. Maybe they heeded a call from Gandhiji, Sardarsaheb (Patel), Nehruji or Ambedkar, the spirit was national interest, not personal interest. But later, there was nothing to be fought for, there was a contest between leaders, even Gandhians. Post 1952, how else would Induchacha (Indulal Yagnik, who led the Mahagujarat movement for a separate Gujarat), Morarjibhai have come into the picture? Why would the Congress (O) and Congress (I) be formed (as the Congress split), if Gandhian philosophy reigned supreme?
Rating: 5