‘In 2019, we’ll go with Brand Modi & our work’

As BJP tries to bring the spotlight back on UP by planning regular visit of PM Modi and party chief Amit Shah in view of 2019 polls, its UP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey speaks to Pankaj Shah on issues that challenge the ruling party and its strategy to counter the joint opposition...

PS: The party is planning regular visits of PM Narendra Modi to UP besides exhaustive meetings of party president Amit Shah in the coming days. Has the party already moved into an election mode?

MNP: BJP is the largest party in the country and, so, our top leadership plans every political move systematically — be it PM Modi’s recent visit to Maghar or national president Amit Shah’s upcoming meetings with party functionaries in the state. We are in the process of strengthening our organisation and following up the directions given by our leaders. All these exercises are part of an overall planning in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections.

PS: The united opposition — mainly comprising SP and BSP — has come to pose a huge challenge to the BJP. The electoral debacle in recent bypolls has proven it. Your view.

MNP: One need to be aware of the present day situation. Having said that, UP politics has been driven by caste calculations for long. And that is surely one of the challenges before us. But, I think, the challenge will not be that big. The Opposition itself is divided because of caste politics. The opposition parties have lost the aura they had in the past.

PS: How does the party plans to counter the joint opposition?

MNP: The plan is Brand Modi. We need to get to the grassroots with Modi's clean image and the works done by his government. That will do the trick and the Opposition's so called ‘vote bank’, too, would shift again towards the BJP. His grand stature and acceptance among all sections of society would eventually prevail in the next general elections.

PS: What about the image and leadership of CM Yogi Adityanath?

MNP: Yogi ji is an ace leader of the party. As a CM he is working with all sensitivity towards the people. Hardly any UP CM toured the state like he did in the past 14 months. Many more tours are lined up in the coming months.

PS: Party functionaries have often been raising the issue of lack of coordination with the government, especially after the recent loss in bypolls. How does the party leadership plans to address this issue?

MNP: Coordination between the party organisation and the state government does exist. We meet the CM every week and assess the implementation of people welfare schemes at grassroots. We have also instructed MLAs and office-bearers in district units to form coordination committees which would ensure that all bottlenecks are removed for implementation of government schemes. The recent Gram Swaraj Abhiyan and Gram Chaupal schemes were also part of same exercise.

PS: Are government officials cooperating with party functionaries?

MNP: The officials have a certain way of doing things. At times they get mentally saturated while doing one thing repeatedly. They feel that a similar scheme was there in the previous government. It requires officials to be sensitive. They need to realize the importance of schemes and changes which have been brought about in our regime. Humara udyeshya pavitra hai... (Our objective is pure and well directed). The BJP runs an administration which connects directly with the people.

PS: BJP claims of working under the formula of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas. Yet, there have been instances of atrocities against Dalits. How do you counter that?

MNP: The previous regimes in UP used Dalits mere as a vote bank and did nothing for them. BJP does not see Dalit through a political prism. Our party has one motto: lok kalyan (people welfare) envisaging bringing dalits at par with other sections of the society.

PS: BJP allies like the SBSP have been raising their voice against the ruling dispensation. Your comment.

MNP: That could be their strategy to run their own organisational system. They have their own sector and areas which they need to address. We often take up their concern and address it accordingly.

PS: Will the party assess the performance of its MPs before finalizing their tickets in the next Lok Sabha elections?

MNP: We have been doing that in the past also. The objective is not just to finalize tickets but to encourage them put things in right place. Nevertheless, our central parliamentary board will decide as to how many sitting MPs will be given a ticket.