New Delhi: Terming the BJP’s ‘400 paar’ slogan “perception management”, Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar says such claims are a “malicious attempt” to alter the reality and are reflective of the ruling party’s fear of defeat.

In an interaction with PTI editors at the news agency’s headquarters here, he questioned the BJP’s confidence about the NDA crossing the 400-figure mark in the Lok Sabha polls, asking if it is so then why is it inducting leaders who cannot win polls while in the Congress and are like “used cartridges”.

Kumar also acknowledged that there was a “failure” on the part of old parties that had been in power earlier due to which the people got attracted towards the “extremism of the BJP” but said the change in the situation was only a matter of time as India’s society is based on love and equality, and stands for co-existence and tolerance.

Asked about the BJP giving the slogan of ‘400 paar’ and whether does it not seem that the opposition is lagging behind in the battle of perception, he said, “If one looks at it closely, this reflects the BJP’s frustration and its fear of defeat.” “Have you heard that the Indian cricket team has gone to play a match with Australia and before the match they are saying, 400 paar? They don’t say such a thing. They say that ‘we will play well and win the World Cup’,” he said.

Kumar claimed that efforts were being made to alter the reality through “perception management”.

“A malicious attempt is being made to alter reality on the basis of perception management. If the number is already crossing 400, then what is the point of inducting ‘used cartridges’ from different outfits into your party? “Suppose you are winning the match, then what is the point of bribing the Australian captain or taking along his retired players?” the former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president said.

The Congress leader asked if someone is not winning elections by being in the Congress then what is his or her use in the BJP.

Referring to the switching of sides by many Congress leaders lately, Kumar said, “Those people for whom you used to say bad things, you are now praising them. There were many people who were addressed as anti-national, but now they are in the BJP.

“It seems that the BJP has discovered a mine of shamelessness and whenever it gets a chance, it brings out some shamelessness. Those who were fighting like cocks in the TV studio are now sitting side by side,” Kumar said.

“Is this the confidence of ‘400 paar’? This is a malicious attempt to deceive the country. This is being said so that thousands of questions are glossed over by the number of 400, no one asks why petrol has crossed Rs 100, why is there so much inflation, why the unemployment rate is highest in decades?” he said.

It is said that the economy will cross USD 5 trillion but if it is so, then who are the 80 crore people being given free food grains and the government is patting itself on its back for it, he asked.

“Repeated attempts are being made to hide the reality. This is an insult to the 140 crore people of the country who have to vote. If it is already decided that 400 has to be crossed then why are elections being held?” Kumar said.

He asserted that it is a “game of perception” and the Congress understands this.

In a similar manner, a perception management attempt of ‘India Shining’ was created during the time of Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2004, but when the election results came in, the NDA government was defeated and the UPA was formed.

He said such claims by the BJP were an attempt to manipulate elections.

On Congress getting affected by this perception and quitting the party, Kumar said maybe some leaders were getting affected but asserted that 40-50 leaders at the AICC do not symbolise the whole party, the Congress is the party that encompasses the history of our modern state.

“Congress is such a party that if you look at its history you would get to know that even (KB) Hedgewar was also its member. The Congress’ history is not that small and it should not be reduced to that level,” Kumar said.

When it is being said that the Congress is in its worst phase, it is still gaining in seats each year, he added.

Kumar said he doesn’t think Congress people are getting affected by the BJP’s perception management but there are a few opportunistic people or those who are scared who are getting caught in the “trap”.

Asked about the reason for greater acceptance of the BJP electorally as reflected in its recent poll victories and if the problem was due to the leadership of the Congress, Kumar claimed that the BJP gives prominence to division, violence and hatred and on the other hand there is Gandhi’s idea which includes ‘sarvadharma sambhav’, unity and love.

“Now, why is it getting electoral success? Firstly, we are not trying to hide the failure of the old parties which have been in power. We have failed somewhere and I admit this we had taken our message to the people in their language and maintained their trust, then people would not have gone towards extremism because extremism is not the nature of this society,” he said.

Extremist ideas dominate society when human qualities are reduced and seem hollow, he said, adding that this is a socio-political crisis.

The other aspect is that people talk about the BJP and its working in an over-rated manner, he said.

“I believe that the BJP worker of 1980 was stronger and hardworking than he is today but did not get success. Even the workers of its paternal organisation, RSS, were more dedicated and hardworking in the 1920s,” he said.

So, the BJP’s position is “exaggerated” and if their prowess was such then the PM who talked about ‘ek akela’ would not have gotten 38 parties together.

“When we analyse our history as a nation-state, when ‘Gandhivaad’ weakens, ‘Godsevaad’ will gain strength. If attraction towards inequality rises then ‘Ambedkarism’ will weaken. If fear, greed and cheating will increase within us then the ideas of Bhagat Singh seem to diminish. I can say with full confidence that it is just a matter of time (this will change),” he said.

Ultimately, the society moves with love, equality, co-existence and tolerance, Kumar asserted.

Asked about starting his politics with the Left, then moving to the Centre and will he now move further right, Kumar said he had never been an extreme leftist and even in the leftist group, he was among the centrists.

“They used to call us the Congress of the Left. Even today we are not extreme, nor will we go in that direction in the future. I think extremism was never accepted in India,” he said.