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  • 2 days ago
In an interview with India Today Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai, Rajya Sabha MP Vikramjit Singh Sahney discussed his decision to leave the Aam Aadmi Party and join the Bharatiya Janata Party.

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00:04I'm joined by one of the seven AARP MPs of the Rajya Sabha who have switched over to the BJP.
00:12I'm joined by Vikramjit Singh Sani. Appreciate you joining us, Sani Saab. Thank you very much.
00:18I remember you from the days when you used to campaign for Dr. Manmohan Singh in the late 1990s.
00:25You were seen to be close to him and the Congress Party. Then you switched to the AARP, got Rajya
00:29Sabha.
00:30Now you become a BJP MP, merged your party with the BJP.
00:35How do you respond to those who will say, Ukta Suraj, you go with the rising sun.
00:40Where there is power, there is Vikramjit Singh Sani.
00:45No, no, no. It's not a question of power.
00:48Here we go, in this case we go by where the humanity or public at large and now in this
00:58case where the Punjab and Punjabis can benefit the more.
01:03You know that Punjab has been driven to a point of no return now.
01:07There is no crisis which is not there in Punjab from A to Z.
01:14From agrarian, crop diversification, water going down, debt crisis, the brain drain problem.
01:24You know, you name it and it is there.
01:27Trade and industry means n number of problems.
01:31And you know the bourgeoisie debt is touching 4.5 lakh crore.
01:35So it's not a question of rising sun.
01:37It's the, we want shining sun on Punjab.
01:42As it was before and bring back the glory of Punjab.
01:45You want shining sun on Punjab but you only woke up to this, Mr. Sani, with due regard.
01:50Sir, with due regard, all these problems you've listed out existed one year, two years, five years ago.
01:57You seem to have woken up to it only today.
02:00Suddenly you've realized that you want the shining sun in Punjab.
02:03I want an honest answer from you.
02:06What was the reason for you to join the BJP?
02:09What made you join the BJP?
02:12First of all, thank you.
02:15First of all, I'm not five years or something.
02:18I've just completed three years, whatever.
02:20And I was always raising issues of Punjab.
02:23But no, it was multiplicity of reasons.
02:27One was you have to see the political, this polit bureau which you call.
02:34I was not a member of this polit bureau.
02:38But look at the level, the Raghav Chadda and Sandeep Pathak and to some extent Swati Malewal.
02:47She was chairperson of Women's Commission.
02:50But these two gentlemen were responsible for getting the thumping majority of 94 MLAs in Punjab.
02:58I hope you will agree.
02:592022, you were there.
03:01I was watching from a distance.
03:04And we had joined because I met Raghav Chadda first time at the World Economic Forum where you used to
03:11go during your earlier times at Davos.
03:14And then somehow we clicked and then he said we want nice people and whatever, whatever.
03:19So that we took the Rajya Sabha seat.
03:25But now since these three core members were sidelined, they are saying that we are bad.
03:33So I was thinking that the people who are bad are bad, if you are bad, if you are bad,
03:43if you are bad, if you are bad, if you are bad, if you are bad, if you are bad.
03:47So before this, I should introspection them.
03:49These are our three pillars or two pillars.
03:53The pillar was the main foundation of Punjab.
03:58Now they have the sideline completed.
04:01The pillar was shunted out of Punjab.
04:04Sorry to say.
04:04And Sandeep Pathak, the people who are here, IIT came here, I mean, what do I do?
04:11I said, IIT, I will go to the IIT.
04:14So I have to do a sideline.
04:16So they have to think about introspection.
04:19They have done it the way the whole process has started.
04:27No, no, I accept.
04:28I appreciate what you are saying that they were sidelined.
04:31You claim and therefore they were feeling, they were feeling stifled.
04:35Raghav Chatta has said there was a toxic atmosphere in the Aam Admi Party.
04:39But what made you, someone who was not part of that Politburo also decide to leave?
04:44Is it because you are a businessman and you were under pressure?
04:48Ashok Miktas, the other businessman had an ED raid on him 14 days ago.
04:52Were you under pressure to switch sides?
04:54Why did you choose to leave?
04:56No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Rajdeep, I swear by God there was no pressure.
05:03First of all, first of all, I am not a businessman.
05:05I am just a sort of non-executive chairman.
05:08I am semi-retired.
05:10Now I am into social work and philanthropy.
05:12Having started my career as a bureaucrat, enough is enough.
05:16Now I just want to serve Punjab and whatever.
05:18Having said that, when these three nucleus, when the nucleus breaks, if the centrifugal force,
05:26they break away and then four of us also were somewhat dissatisfied, disillusioned, more
05:35with the governance in Punjab issues and this freebies atmosphere.
05:39We used to say, and we also say that you will not see any Punjabi or Sikh beggar, but we
05:48can not make Punjab a bikhari because they are all making dependent on the subsidies and
05:54all.
05:55Did you realize this only in the last few days that under Prime Minister Modi's leadership,
06:00there is self-respect.
06:01Why did you join the Amar P party then?
06:03Why did you join the Amar P party three years ago?
06:06Sir, if you feel that, why, no, I, I, first of all, first of all, I did not join any
06:13party nor yeh unki, unka bada pan tha, sun lije, unka bada pan tha, I am thankful to
06:19them, unhoney kabhi mere ko or or or loogun ko nahi bola party join karo, unhoney kaha hum
06:25aap jaysayi you are padmashiri, you are clean, chavi, a, b, c, d, aur hume aysayi
06:30admiyo ki zarurat thi, jab unhoney panch siten apni bharli thi, then two, two were left.
06:36Ab, jo, yeh sawaal hai.
06:38None of you paid for a ticket, right?
06:41None of you paid for your Rajasaba tickets, am I clear?
06:44Sani ji, none of you paid for your Rajasaba tickets because there were rumors that businessmen
06:48were paying for the Rajasaba ticket, you did not pay anyone for your Rajasaba ticket.
06:53But let's, sir, not, not, not even, not even a cup of tea, people believe it, mere
07:00ko dousaro ka ni pata, mere ko, mein apni baat kar sakta haun, dunke ki chot pe, kyunki, kyunki
07:06me, wiesayi itna, I'm spending, you know, I'm spending 6 crore, hume MPLD se milta
07:15hai, pichlè sal, mein ne about, ah, joh hai, nine, nine point two five crore, mein
07:21ne aapni jayb se Punjab mein laga ya, 15 crore, mein to jayb se Punjab pe lagata ho, to in
07:27loogho ko bhi tha bhi, hume credit mile ga ho, paisse, meri se kyun paisse, koi manga ga
07:31hai, or mein is chakkar mein, I'm, I'm out of this, to mein je kisun lijao, modi ji
07:36ne to merko brix mein dala, brix mein jatata tha, phir operation sundur mein bheja, lekin
07:41ab ham bhi, tho'day, ah, suffocated, frustrated thay ki, humari koi baat Punjab mein sun
07:47ni raha, lekin ham kertai kya, lekin ye abe eka opportunity, eka, eka, eka time hota
07:53na, there is a time of every idea to become a reality, ab jab ye teen logon ne thahan li,
07:59ke bhi, hum alag ho rhai hai, to phir hum chaar bhi milke saath ho gaye, aur hum
08:05ne socha, dekho, kyunki hum log politician, so did ragab chadda approach you, sani ji
08:10did, sani ji may understand, did, am I right that ragab chadda approached you, and that's
08:17how, nah, nah, he approached you, when, when was this, when did he approach you, how long
08:23ago, so no, we are day, nah, nah, we are daily, we are, we are daily going to parliament,
08:29roze baat hoti and we are friends, we were in Davos, we were in host of other thing, so
08:34he's a young, whatever, enterprising boy, so ab baat to roze hoti na, approach to usko
09:02kejriwal ji, he's a nice person, but manis sasodiyah ji, a good man, I am a good man,
09:09manis sara report deta raha, aur jis din ye baat puri aabhi gai, meinne ghar jaa ke socha,
09:16mein kejriwal ji, ne meire ko bulaya, sab ko bulaya, hunne wednes day 22nd ko, mein gheya,
09:21mein avoid nahi kiya, kyunki humare dil mein koin chor nahi hai, mein gheya, meinne ka,
09:26woh katea, ap pressure padega, ye padega, sir, bata yeh, you met kejriwal, you met kejriwal
09:32on 22nd, haan ji, you met kejriwal on 22nd, what did you tell him, you met kejriwal on 22nd,
09:39what did you tell him, haan, nahi, nahi, nahi, meinne, meinne, sir, he summoned me, he called
09:46me, Sandeep Paathak and Harbhajan Singh, alag-alag time pe, unho ne bola bai, aisa sunne mein aya
09:52hai ki, yeh pressure hai, yeh kuch chalra, mein ka, merese to abhi koji concrete baat kisi
09:57ne nahi ki, woh katea, will you come under pressure, merese ko to koji pressure hai,
10:01nahi, ham toh, I am a honest person, 35 years ka bedaak carrier hai, merese ko toh
10:06kuch, aisa hi baat hai nahi, aur, phir bole ki, agar pressure aaga ya, because woh
10:12khenne lagay, yaar, you are a soft person, and aap itna social, aapka toh social work
10:17karne ka interest hai, I know you are not into active politician, toh kya karo ge, katea,
10:22katea, resign karo ge, meinne ka, sahab, aap abhi bol roo, mein ko time dije,
10:26dhu, dhu, dhu, dhin ka, kiya, fir friday, mi lenge, abh, mein ghaar aya, mein sôchta
10:31raho wahi, kya karay, mein bhi, dharm sankat mein padh gaya, meinne bhi, socha, family
10:37se, salah ki, ki kya kiya jayai, phir, mereko kisi ne, ah, salah di ki, bhi, aapke
10:43resign karne se, ya na karne se, kya fark padega, wo dhu, fir, two-third, ya, pehle hi, unka,
10:53and then we had met H.M. sahab
10:57to him and then he told himself
11:00how he had his father
11:03and his father had his 40 days
11:06in Gubin Dham, Gurdwara and he said
11:10he said to him, I'm going to do it for Punjab
11:12but you will give up the people
11:29so you have given us an important news point
11:34you said, sir one minute
11:37right, you have given us an important news point
11:40that you met the home minister
11:42who assured you that he was keen on doing something for Punjab
11:46and you thought this was a good moment
11:48to also contribute
11:49can I ask you in conclusion
11:51are you completely comfortable with this decision
11:54are you completely comfortable with this decision
11:56will you sleep well at night
11:58your conscience is clean
12:00that you have broken away from a party
12:02and merged it into a party
12:04which was seen as an ideological opponent
12:10ideological
12:11ideological
12:12ideological
12:13ideological
12:14difference
12:14no
12:14ھمارا
12:16ہندو
12:16سکھوں کا
12:17نہوں
12:18ماس
12:18کا
12:18رشتہ ہے
12:19Punjab میں
12:19کبھی
12:20Punjab میں
12:20یہ کچھ
12:21fundamentalist
12:22to create a difference.
12:25There was a week before.
12:27How did the Khalsa become?
12:30There is a difference between Hindu.
12:32This is a difference.
12:34RSS has said one before.
12:38Six are a separate religion.
12:41This is a separate religion.
12:43This is not an ideological difference.
12:45We are thinking about Punjab's best way.
12:47That's the question.
12:50You have come to the question.
12:52You have to try to do one.
12:56When you have a bad day,
12:58you might have put it all over the past.
13:02You must say that you are not as well.
13:06You have brought it from Punjab and Delhi.
13:10You are listening.
13:14Listen to me.
13:15Sir, listen to me, Rajdeep Ji.
13:19Now some people have great knowledge of our government.
13:22I don't want to say anything.
13:25Okay, whatever you know, what is the governance, what is the performance, how many ransom calls
13:31come.
13:32You know better than me.
13:34They are bad.
13:35I am saying today that we are bad.
13:37They have put a gun.
13:40We are bad.
13:45We are bad.
13:46We are bad.
13:47We are bad.
13:47We are bad.
13:47We are bad.
13:48Okay, let's leave it there.
13:49Those are very strong words that you've given us, but you've given us an interesting explanation
13:53as to how you decided finally to take this big decision.
13:57As I said, I remember you, of course, from the 1990s.
14:01Thank you so much, Vikramjit Singh Sani, for joining me here on the show tonight and explaining
14:08your position.
14:08Thank you, Rajdeep Ji.
14:09Thank you very much.
14:09Thank you very much.
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