‘Ram Mandir Will Be A Part Of Our Campaign'

Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das is confident about winning a second term in office despite desertion by allies and rebellion by senior party members. Ahead of the first phase of polling on November 30, Das speaks to Preetha Nair about his government’s achievements and why he is not cowed down by setbacks to the BJP. Excerpts.

Your target of 65+ seats in the election is almost double of what you scored last time. How confident are you?

Our stable government has delivered what we had promised. The welfare schemes launched by the double-engine government (BJP governments at the Centre and state) have benefited people and they have full faith in us. The voters have realised that a stable government is the need of the hour. During campaigning, women and young people came out in droves to bless us.

Long-time allies like AJSU, LJP and JD(U) have left the BJP and the party is facing rebellion. Will it cast a shadow on your prospects?

We tried our best to accommodate the allies. AJSU has been an ally since 2000. But then, they wanted more seats than we offered. So they split with us. But we have the support of our cadres. We are not worried as we have a strong base in Chhotanagpur. We have the most number of MLAs and MPs from there. In the Lok Sabha elections, we sacrificed one of our sure-shot seats to AJSU and fulfilled our duty towards the partner.

Your former colleague and state food minister Saryu Roy is pitted against you in Jamshedpur (E). Are you worried?

It will not have any impact in this election. Jamshedpur is a microcosm of India and people belonging to different religions and faiths live there.

There are reports of disenchantment in the party against your leadership and projecting you as the CM for a second time.

It was decided by the party leadership. There is no rebellion in the party. The leadership has shown faith in me.

Saryu Roy has leveled corruption charges against the government...he was also upset over BJP fielding Bhanu Pratap Sahi, who has been charged in a medical scam.