A little more than a year after a crushing defeat in Assembly elections, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is back in his belligerent mood, having brought about an improbable coming together of two rivals—the SP and BSP—and inflicting a defeat on BJP in byelections. As the party gears up for Lok Sabha polls, Yadav tells Subhash Mishra how he feels BJP’s Gorakhpur defeat is a turning point, and talks of his strategy to counter BJP. Excerpts …
How will you assess the first year of the BJP government in the state?
No government has failed in just the first year of its term as the one led by Yogi Adityanath. It has failed to make any impact. In the first year, all the funds went in waiving loans of farmers, which is not yet complete. In the second year, with a budget of over Rs 4.5 lakh crore, not a single new project or social welfare programme has taken off.
But the government claims to have done a lot for farmers…
If you do not believe me, go through the newspaper reports. Why are cane cultivators burning their crop? Why has the government not been able to clear cane dues, which have now risen to Rs 10,000 crore? As for the loan waiver, the government itself is saying that even half of the targeted 86 lakh farmers have not benefited yet.
On the law and order front, the government has claimed to have checked crime substantially.
This is the biggest crime the state is perpetrating on people by picking up suspect criminals from their homes and shooting them down. If you study the records closely, only a few castes are being targeted. All encounters would be investigated once Samajwadi Party is voted back to power. In the
Unnao case, everyone from the thana level to the top trying to cover up were from the same caste.
People tell me that you will be a target too. But I am undeterred. “Chahe jitna atyachar karle BJP, hum Chambal ke rahne waale hain, darne wale nahi hai” (We are not scared of any government crackdown. We hail from Chambal, the land of valour and courage. We will not be cowed down by any intimidation)
You have changed your strategy politically by saying you are a ‘backward Hindu’…
I am being forced to do so to counter BJP’s casteist, communal and religious agenda. I always believed in development. But the unsavoury language of BJP’s leadership has forced me to retaliate in the same way. How can a chief minister, who has taken oath under the Constitution, brandish himself to be a Hindu, refusing to celebrate festivals and rituals of other religions. Didn’t they dare brand us “saapchhachunder” (snake and mole) and used abusive language to target us? Now that we have joined hands with the BSP, BJP is clueless, left with less than 20% of the electorate to vote for them.
How will you take the alliance further for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections?
The alliance is energized. We are working on a joint strategy to defeat the BJP in UP in 2019. For this, we will adjust accordingly.
Will you and BSP chief Mayawati kick off the poll campaign together?
The time is not ripe yet to disclose our strategy.
Has BJP’s defeat in Gorakhpur given you more confidence to take on the saffron party, which once looked to be sailing through easily in 2019? Do you consider it a turning point in UP’s politics?
I would describe SP’s win with BSP’s support in Gorakhpur and Phulpur to be a turning point in national politics.
How did you convince your father and party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav to come around to bless the alliance?
Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) is an astute politician who has always had his ear to the ground and understands the nuances. He can sense that people are determined to dislodge the BJP.
BJP, however, claims that it would win on the development plank in the next general elections too…
BJP leaders have opium in one pocket and chloroform in the other to sedate voters. They have done this in the past. But it won’t work this time. We have finally found the glue to bind voters, and their actions will be countered.
You smelt an international conspiracy on the recent cash crisis…
To forge good relations with the US, the NDA government had agreed on working to create a cashless economy during then-US president Barack Obama’s visit. To benefit the US and Indian businessmen, the
Modi government strongly advocated a cashless economic system. The demonetisation policy of the Modi government was also aimed at promoting and favouring US credit card companies. It never helped India’s poor.
Akhilesh Yadav