’Jaffer Sharief can contest from Bangalore North’

'Jaffer Sharief can contest from Bangalore North'

Sangliana, who's hopped from the BJP to the Congress, is hoping to pip Sharief to the post and contest from Bangalore Central. He says he's done enough for the rural areas and now wants to turn to urban Bangalore'

When former police commissioner H T Sangliana joined the BJP, there was talk of his turning the Bharatiya Janata Party into the Bharatiya Jesus Party. He now describes the BJP as "communal". What really happened?

Sangliana gives us the answers to this and other questions that voters have: His silence on attacks against women as opposed to his proactive role during the church attacks, his place in the "corrupt" Congress and his election strategy. Excerpts from the interview:
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MiD DAY: Are you sure of getting a Congress ticket?
H T Sangliana: Yes, I am hopeful of contesting from Bangalore Central. It is a new constituency but a part of my old one. If the party gives me an opportunity, with God's blessings, I will serve the people and see that they are happy.

What are your credentials?
As an MP representing Bangalore North, I concentrated on rural areas. I built and repaired roads, school buildings, bus shelters, hospitals, and people remember me for that. In fact, they have decided to name the 15-km stretch of Bagalur Road after me since I took the initiative to build it. I have helped many poor people get education, good health and infrastructure. I'm sure no MP has done what I have done.

Veteran leader Jaffer Sharief is aspiring to contest from here. What if he does not give in?
He is a senior leader and has won many times for the Congress. I am sure it would be pretty good if he contests from Bangalore North.

'Bangalore is my place'

Most of the rural areas you mentioned are in Bangalore North after delimitation. You could have opted for that constituency. Why are you particular about Bangalore Central?
As I said, I have done my bit for the rural areas. I now want to serve this part of the city. I want to work where I have not done much.

It is understood that you want to see Congress victorious and check BJP's growth. If this is true, don't you think it is better that Jaffer Sharief contests from Bangalore Central since then, the JD (S) will not field a candidate against him?
(Aswin Kumar, Sangliana's political advisor, intervenes to take the question) It is Deve Gowda's political game and we must not fall into his trap. If he is so concerned about the victory of a secular party, let him support both Sangliana and Jaffer Sharief in Bangalore Central and Bangalore North respectively. Then, the Congress can be sure of winning both the seats. He is playing a divide-and-rule game. We hope the Congress high command and Jaffer Sharief will not pay heed to it. Anyway, it is up to the high command to decide on the candidature. Whatever they decide, we are here to abide by it.

You were inclined to contest from Mizoram, your native place. Are you still open to that option?
No, Mizoram is my native but I left it long back. Bangalore is my place now and I would like to work from here.

What do you have to offer to the Bangalore urban class?
I will ensure a better life for the people, especially the poor and weaker sections. I will be available for the people any time. There will be no lunch time or sleep time or prayer time.u00a0
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You were proactive when churches were attacked but silent when women wereu00a0 attacked in a pub in Mangalore and later in Bangalore. How will you ask the city's terrorised youth to vote for you, when you have not done anything for them?
Please don't see me as a community leader. Even during my stint as a police officer,u00a0 nobody called me partial or communal. Being a Christian, I treated all equally. Yes, I went to the places where the churches were attacked and it was my duty to do so as an MP.

When the pub attack happened, I was no longer an MP. Still, I could have gone there but time did not permit.

As far as cultural policing and the attacks on women go, it is a law and order problem more than anything. But the police department is weak and inefficient.u00a0 I have pulled them up time and again. I even met home minister V S Acharya and told him that he was not handling the issue properly but he tried to brush it aside saying the issue was trivial.

You had said that city police commissioner Shankar Bidari was useless and inefficient. Do you still say this?
I have not used this language but my statement implied it. Now, he has to pull up his socks, otherwise he cannot check rising crime. The bell system in police stations must resume so that people can approach the police.

When you joined politics five years ago, you had pledged to change the Bharatiya Janata Party into the Bharatiya Jesus Party. Now, you have quit the BJP and joined the Congress. Could you not fulfill your pledge?
It was not I who made that statement. When I joined the BJP, many Christian friends were taken aback and told me I would go to hell. A lady suggested that I convert the BJP into the Jesus party. Yes, I wanted to make BJP a secular party, I wanted people there to be Jesus-minded with love and forgiveness, but the idea was not received well.

Will you be embarrassed to identify yourself with the Congress where corruption is rampant?
If there is corruption in the party, it is not my personal problem. It is a problem that has to be addressed by the higher-ups. But, my presence should inspire the party members to be clean and honest.

Politics is an ocean and the ocean may not be clean. I am a pure drop. Let me drop in the ocean and act as a purifying agent.

Have you seen films made on your life?
There are three films, and I have seen them. It is great fun to watch them because they are stuffed with a lot of masala for entertainment. In one film, the heroine gets pregnant and a character says: "Congratulations for Junior Sangliana."u00a0 But in reality, I don't have a son, I have four daughters.

Have you met Shankar Nag, who enacted your role?
Yes, the films were super hits and ran for more than hundred days. The tickets were sold in the black market. I have watched the films with Shankar Nag.

Now, a producer has approached me. If everything goes well, I may act as a police commissioner.

What would be your campaign strategy?
I won't accept money for the election fund. Neither will I offer money to the voters. My advice to them is: if anybody gives you money, liquor or anything, please take it and use it. But vote according to your conscience.