Congress Should Support Me : Raj
By: Rizwan Asad
Nasheman News : Prakash Raj happens to be a multilingual actor having created a niche for himself as in actor in Kannada, Malyalam, Telugu, Tamil & above all Hindi.
And now Prakash Raj has taken a leap in the political firmament too. Presented herewith is the 1st ever press conference account today of Prakash Raj’s opinionated personal nuggets & pearls of wisdom before, after & during his leap into his latest entry in the political arena. Tune in!
“Ever since I was that high I have never taken a decision on the predestined journeys of my life, whereas in contrast my journeys have always taken firm decisions for me.”
“To cite an example on New Year’s night I had made an announcement that I wanted to be with you people but before that an attempt to become parliamentary members has its own requirements.” “People may question me as to why I want to be with the people of Bengaluru Central? But let me explain that many people don’t know that Bengluru Central is my very own constituency, as I was born here, brought up here, educated here & took up theatre here & not only these but the cinema industry is also in my very own constituency.”
“Besides all the above mentioned factors even my childhood friends, relatives & everybody is here. So it was but natural that I decided to come back to my roots when I decided to take a plunge in the ever competitive political field. Actually speaking Bengaluru Central is like a mini India as many languages are spoken here and it also happens to be a very secular urban seat.”
“And now the million dollar question that is put before me is that why am I contesting for the assembly elections? So you see that during the assembly polls when I travelled all over the state & saw the communal politics right at that moment I decided against electoral politics. As I just wanted to be a catalyst, in fact I wanted to be the voice of the people. That apart over the past 6 months I felt that every people’s voice should be heard.”
The next million dollar question that is put before me is that why did I ever decide to be an independent candidate? My frank & honest answer to that is if I get into any political party I won’t survive for more than 3 months, so why join any party at all. The true fact is that I want to be the voice of the citizens. Today, any parliamentarian who stands for a party and the ones who gets lakhs of votes, just fly to Delhi and the minute they go to Delhi they become one vote for their party. I decided on independent to become a questioning rational voice. In the next 3 months parties have to put forward their policies. In the next 4 months I shouldn’t just be just asking but also answerable too. You have seen me as an actor & activist always questioning while travelling.”
“In India today not even a single political party will have a majority & they are just trying to survive. In fact they are just trying to protect each other & nobody is interested in the well being & welfare of the people. If they are secular let us support them why should I lose my voice. If any party with secular policies decides to support me I will welcome them but I will never join them. If the Congress party feels that I will eat in their votes then why can’t they come & support me.”
“In a country when communalism comes people will oppose it. If there is a group of people opposing communalism then why not join them as independent. It is important to stand against communalism but why should one join a party? I agree that the goal is same then let the paths be different.”
“People are also saying that I’m contesting against 2 national parties, but let me clarify that I am not contesting against anybody I am contesting for the people. I have a team & we have just started 6 months ago. And they thought that I was raising a voice for them but the truth is that I was raising a voice for a movement.”
“Let me clarify one more thing that I’m not against any religion but when someone says that other religion people are 2nd class citizens I would say that that it is totally against the Constitution. People keep asking about caste equations but Bengaluru Central is not like that.” “Let me tell you something if I was a calculative politician I would have looked at incentives but I’m not. I am leaving my comfort zone to come to politics. I have an ideology & something to prove & I also have a journey to undertake for the benefit of the people.”
“Although I know what has to be done & know the issues too but I don’t want to be arrogant & know what to do. From 20th Jan, 2019 I will seek to make a people’s manifesto. It will be an exercise of 15 days to 20 days.” “Not tapping on minority votes, these equations are important because it has been fought like this & allowed to be fought like this. Let us leave polarizing.Everybody is a citizen of the country let them come, why say that only friends from film line will come.” “There are a lot of issues. Have you read about Sachar report? Has any government done anything for that Community. They spend 60 crores on election but what is happening to MPLAD funds? Look at the government schools & slums, what happened to our tax money? Everybody is a thief. What have they done for the people? Many opportunists have come in the past & doubts are good. To have a doubt is a healthy thing.”
“Acting was my profession but people don’t see me anymore only as an actor. They also see me as someone who raises a voice for the people. But to support only because I’m an actor is not good.”
“You see I never spoke in favor of any political party but against those I was clear shouldn’t come to power. Our citizens should be such that they should give a certificate to any work done by the authorities.”“In fact this is not courage it is a practical decision. Doctors, lawyers, actors all of them contest some lose some win. But we are all citizens.”
“Everybody has a certain time when they change their views & the Gauri Lankesh murder was that for me. It changed my thinking.”
“On a parting note I would say that they should also be ashamed of operation Kamala. Are they working as an opposition? None of them are worried about working for the people, including those who are angry that they are not offered good posts.”
