Ida Manjhi (F): It is a complete mystery. We don’t know what the government has done.

G: The last time the Bharatiya Janata Party governed the National Capital Territory (now Delhi) came at the end of May, 1977. We say now that the period to come has arrived. Are you ready?

JV: It has come, and we are on the brink. My question is, have you brought out something that will be acceptable to the people, and if so, give us a call. It is our job which comes before the president, and for such people as we are, this is the moment, and that is the only thing that should be done.

G: I remember the first minister, P.L.H. Narayanan, who said that there would be a state government in Delhi. There may be some of you who remember this; you were in the government last time – I have told you that earlier. What was your position then, and what is your position now?

JV: I was not in government, in government of a Congress party, but I was in the cabinet; and the last time that we were in government was at the end of 1986. There was no development in Delhi, no development and more than that, no governance. What is an example of development – I think it is just the way things are – when they go for a census, there is no government in the county. When there is no government in the county, what is the county doing? You are telling me that you have taken the census in March of 1984, the last year in which this village had a representative government. That cannot be the basis for the elections, and you want me to say that this is development?

G: Yes.

JV: All that you have done today, which is what the people want, for the poor, for the people of Punjab, for the people of Gujarat – I don’t know who you are talking about – that they want that; I cannot deny that. There has to be action in a place where you have made mistakes. You do not want to go to people and tell them a lie; you cannot do that. So, why should these elections be conducted even by this government? And why then is it necessary to tell me that there is a development? I want to know. And this is what