Home Minister Should Not Speak Much: Rajnath Singh To NDTV

On NDTV's Walk The Talk, Home Minister Rajnath Singh reiterates government's stand on the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, talks about PM Modi's style of working and the achievements of the BJP government in the last two years. Here are the highlights of the show: • I feel a person who is the home minister of the country should speak less. • I speak when it's required but also take precautions while speaking on certain topics on which investigations are going on. • There are certain sensitive questions which are related to the security and I feel if a person is a Home Minister then he should take precautions of what he speaks. On calling other party people anti-national: • We can't call any one anti-national, anyone who is born in India cannot be called an anti-national. Handover from the previous government: • There were some major challenges in the security sector which I understood after becoming the minister. • I won't talk about the previous government and what they did in their tenure. Every government tries to do something or the other. • There are times when we try and don not succeed. On Ishrat case and Batla house encounter: • As far as Ishrat Jahan case is concerned I've given my statements in the parliament and have informed that some papers are missing. • I made a committee on this and they are investigating the issue. • I do not think it was a staged encounter, and you know for a fact that this matter was in court. The court has also given its stand on this issue. • This is the first time that Intelligence Bureau and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are in front of each other and this is quite unfortunate. On National Investigation Agency (NIA): • NIA is an autonomous investigating agency. After our government was made I have tried to give maximum autonomy to it. • They can now go directly to law ministry if they want legal opinion, they do not have to come to me. On different working styles of PM Modi and LK Advani: • Everyone has a different style of working. What our PM has done in past 2 years should be given credit. • Nobody wanted to believe that our economy could gain momentum. Today the situation is so different. • Previous government had big corruption charges. This government does not even have one. • The world has acknowledged that India is fastest growing economy. On Pakistan agency in Pathankot: • On reciprocity basis the CCS knew about them coming to Pathankot. • Talking to different countries is not my department's work. It is the external affairs department which does the talking. On JNU: • I am a citizen of this country and there is a sense of pride that we take in the fact. But when I heard the slogans it hurt me. • Delhi Police did what they had to, however this video is being investigated. On death penalty provision: • I do not have a firm view on this, need to hear to people's debate. On Uttar Pradesh: • BJP will have a good mandate in UP. There is no shortage of ministers there. • I have never thought of myself to be big. • Parliamentary board will decide on ministers there if things go right. • Will go to Uttar Pradesh and fight with full force. On Renaming Akbar Road: • I haven't got any such proposal yet. • Can't say which names should be changed or not. Depends on contribution of the people. • Be it a Hindu name or a Muslim one, this should not be a reason to change names.