Son in BJP, but performing duties towards mother too: Savitri Jindal

Hisar: A former Haryana minister, India’s richest woman and mother of BJP MP Naveen Jindal, Savitri Jindal is doing something for the first time at the age of 75 —contesting an assembly election as an independent candidate. In the race from Hisar, Savitri talks to TOI’s Kumar Mukesh and says her son is still in the BJP and performing his duties but had not backed out of responsibilities towards her either. Excerpt from a conversation with the Jindal family matriarch:To work on your ‘Sankalp Patra’, you will have to go with the next govt in the state, can you support BJP in a hung assembly?An independent can also go to the government and raise his/her voice. If there is a hung assembly, just as I fought the election on the wishes of the people, I will take the decision on the wishes of the people. That said, my son is still in the BJP and performing his duties. However, has also not backed out of responsibilities towards his mother eitherPeople are saying a vote for Savitri Jindal and independent candidate Gautam Sardana is a vote for BJP only. How will you break this image?I am committed to getting their works done. There is still some time left for the elections. With time, people’s illusions will also break.Why do you think BJP and Congress did not give you a ticket?Former health minister Dr Kamal Gupta has an old acquaintance with BJP leaders and he claimed to have won from Hisar twice by breaking the stronghold of Jindal family. I feel this is why my claim to the ticket was rejected. As far as Congress is concerned, Hisar ticket has been given on the wish of party leader Kumari Selja.When Dr Gupta defeated you, media mogul Subhash Chandra supported him. Today, he is with you. How do you see this?When Dr Gupta defeated me in the 2014 elections, there was a Modi wave in the country and Chandra ji had also contributed to it. Now, the wave is not there. Also, Chandra’s support has made my election stronger.There are six candidates from the Vaishya community. In such a situation, votes of the community are bound to get divided. How will you compensate for this loss?Apart from the Vaishya community, there are votes of Punjabi, Saini and other 36 communities in Hisar. Vaishya community is completely with me, and Punjabi, Saini and other communities have also been associated with me for years. It is true that votes will get divided due to more candidates. But whatever loss will happen, it will be compensated by people of other communities.