BJP national spokesperson and former Union information and broadcasting minister Ravishankar Prasad is unhappy with the Congress for creating controversy over the proposal to confer Vajpayee with Bharat Ratna. Insisting that the issue should not be politicised, Prasad adds that the highest civilian award should not be the exclusive preserve of one particular dynasty.

In a free-wheeling conversation with Abhay Kumar of Deccan Herald, Prasad, who was also Union law minister, says why the judiciary should exercise restraint; why Lalu’s acquittal in the Disproportionate Assets case should be quashed by the higher court; how the BJP will make a dent in the southern states; and whether old war horses like Uma Bharti and Babulal Marandi will return to the BJP fold before the Lok Sabha polls in 2009. Excerpts:

Why is there so much of fuss over Bharat Ratna being conferred upon Atal Behari Vajpayee? What was the need to ask for it?

Tell me what is the process of getting a Bharat Ratna? Somebody has to recommend a name. We being in the government in several states could have easily done that, but we are not going to stoop to that level.

Then what was the need for L K Advani to write to the PM regarding this?

For three reasons: First, Vajpayeeji is the first real non-Congress Prime Minister of the country. Secondly, he remained at the helm for six consecutive years. Thirdly, he is an acknowledged statesman of the nation with impeccable integrity and an able parliamentarian, who has proved his mettle in the last 50 years.

Don’t you think the award should come to him on its own?

Tell me, is Bharat Ratna the exclusive preserve of one particular family, or dynasty? If Nehru can get it, Indira Gandhi can get it, if Rajiv Gandhi could be conferred with it posthumously (though I doubt whether he deserved it), why not Vajpayee. After all, it was a Narasimha Rao-led Congress government which awarded Vajpayee a Padma Vibhushan. So why can’t the Manmohan government confer Bharat Ratna on a person of Vajpayee’s stature.

But your opponents say this is a move to retire him and hand over the baton to Advani.

The party has very categorically announced that Advani will be our prime-ministerial candidate in the next Lok Sabha polls. Vajpayee will, however, continue to be our guiding force.

This is why you are sending overtures to Jayalalitha and the likes?

Jayalalitha’s stand on terrorism is as tough as ours. Besides, we share the same view on LTTE and Sethusmaundram project. And she had been one of our allies in the past too.

When you send overtures to Jayalalitha, who once pulled out of the alliance with you, will you ever forgive Deve Gowda for sabotaging the BJP government in the state?

The two cases are quite different. What happened in Karnataka was a “patent case of political brinkmanship at its worst”. We hope the voters in Karnataka would give a decisive mandate in our favour, whenever the polls take place.

Is the attempt to rope in M P Prakash being made to boost your chances in the polls?

This has to be decided by the Central leadership of the party. Yashwant Sinha would be the right person to talk on this issue.

Are there efforts to bring back your estranged colleagues Uma Bharti and Babulal Marandi to the BJP fold?

No efforts have been made so far, but nothing can be ruled out either.

You were the Union law minister in the Vajpayee government. What do you think of the recent remark by a judge about PILs?

PIL is an important tool for the poor and the neglected to seek redressal for grievances and expose corruption. But if it becomes an instrument for appropriating governance and executive functions, it doesn’t augur well for democracy. In our Constitution, the roles of the executive, legislature and the judiciary are well-defined. While there can be checks and balances between them, one shouldn’t override the other.

But one of the judges had refused to entertain a PIL…

The Supreme Court, in a series of judgements, has said that there has to be an element of judicial restraint in executive matters.

Your government in Bihar has dragged Lalu to the high court even after he and his wife Rabri were acquitted by the CBI court in the Disproportionate Assets case…

(Interrupts…) I am on record saying that the Lalu-Rabri acquittal by the CBI judge was legally “vulnerable”. If they have not done any crime, then let them face the case in the high court and get acquitted.