After becoming the national president of the Samajwadi Party on January 1, 2017 by taming the old guard of the party set up by his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has become the face of the party, and its chief campaigner for the assembly elections. He is supported by his wife, Dimple, in the gruelling campaign. Akhilesh found time to speak with THE WEEK about his party’s prospects aboard his aircraft while trying to cover as many campaign destinations as possible. Excerpts from the interview:
What has changed for you after January 1, 2017?
The man remains the same, but the role has changed. In fact, I don’t find any big difference. Even after becoming the national president, I am doing my work, just that the workload has gone up. I got my new role after a lot of fight. I can say that before assuming the role of the national president, I was recommending people for party tickets and after that, I started giving tickets to them.
How do you rate the chances of your party in this elections?
Our chances are quite bright. We have done a lot of work in the past five years. You must have heard our campaign song “Kaam bolta hai (work speaks).” I am asking for votes on the basis of the work done by my government and we are getting good response from the people. Name any sector—infrastructure, health, education, sports, power—my government has done its job. I would highlight a few important achievements of my government, such as the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, the Samajwadi Poorvanchal (eastern) Expressway, the Lucknow Metro, IT city, international stadium, cancer hospital, the Samajwadi pension scheme and the Kanya Vidya Dhan (scholarship for meritorious girl students).
Why are you not contesting this time?
The workers have been demanding that I should contest. To some extent, I, too, had made up my mind to contest, but some unpalatable events in the past few months did not let me do this. Moreover, had I been contesting, I would not have got enough time to campaign.
You have experienced a bitter family feud, your uncle Shivpal Yadav has not been campaigning for the party.
People have understood who is right and who is wrong. Now things will not change, no one will be able to influence the course of the elections. No one will be able to spoil things for the party.
Your father has expressed his displeasure with you several times.
I never knew that I would have to confront such a situation. My relationship with Netaji is quite cordial, there is no misunderstanding now. I respect him a lot, we talk and communicate, he has been campaigning at a few places. As he becomes free, he will go for more campaigning.
Prime Minister Modi and BJP president Amit Shah have been constantly attacking you, using issues like demonetisation and covert strikes.
They have cheated the country on all important issues, be it the One Rank, One Pension scheme, demonetisation or surgical strikes. Modi says he has done a surgical strike on black money, which is an absolute farce. Ordinary people have become victims of this cynical move. Currency notes are never black or white. It is the way money is transacted that makes it black or white. Banning currency notes of a particular denomination is not going to prevent corruption.
Modi says nothing is “up” in UP, everything is down.
He needs to come and see Uttar Pradesh properly. My government has done a lot for sugarcane farmers, potato growers and the farming community. We have created a special fund for farmers. We have given laptops, power and jobs. He claims that his government has given jobs to one lakh people in the Railways. We have given jobs to 70,000 people just in one department, police. It is all ‘up’ in my government, but it is his government which has made everything down in Uttar Pradesh. They have 71 MPs from here and what have they given to Uttar Pradesh? His government has sunk Uttar Pradesh and the people of UP will give him a reply in this elections.
The BJP has been assailing you for poor law and order situation and communal clashes.
In the past two years, no communal clashes have been reported from any part of the state. The BJP and the BSP have tried to vitiate the atmosphere. Whenever our government comes to power, this issue is hyped. Even the smallest of the incidents are exaggerated. We have come out with Dial 100 and 1090 facilities. All this is meant to provide security to the people and strengthen the law and order situation.
There have been irritants in your seat-sharing agreement with the Congress, especially in Amethi and Raebareli. Will this affect the alliance?
There has been no misunderstanding between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress over seat sharing. The alliance is going strong and there will be no negative effect. We have made friendship with the Congress with a large heart, so we have given a large number of seats to them. Minor differences will be sorted out.
What do you think of the BJP’s campaign attacking you and your family?
The BJP leaders should not work in Uttar Pradesh with an ostrich policy. They should not close their eyes, rather they should show their work. The prime minister, instead of indulging in man ki baat should do kaam ki baat. They are attacking me and my family. Whether my father is angry or happy, is it an election issue? When I am not bothered about your family, why should you be bothered about mine?
Your wife, Dimple, is also active in campaigning. How do you view her as a politician?
She has been a great support to me. She has good connect with the voters, especially women. There are many issues pertaining to women which she addresses and I cannot. Be it pregnancy, breastfeeding, sanitary napkins and other issues, she can communicate well with them. There is a comfort zone for her being a woman. The pressure cooker scheme for women is her brainchild.
How much time do you get to spend with family these days?
With so much political activities, I do not get much time. She basically takes care of the family, maintaining an equilibrium between her political engagements and children.
What do you think about Muslim voters, especially in the light of the Muzaffarnagar riots?
They have always reposed faith in secular parties and ours is a secular party. We have made expressways, distributed laptops and introduced the Kanya Vidya Dhan and other such schemes, which do not discriminate between Hindus and Muslims. They have always trusted us and I assure them that the SP will not break their trust. As far as those riots are concerned, strict action has been taken against the guilty and compensation given to the victims.
There are a large number of young voters in UP. What has your government done for them?
The young are our future and they have the capability to shape the state. The Samajwadi government has declared the current financial year as the year of farmer and youth. Since education and employment are the two basic needs of the youth, we have taken several steps. We have provided free laptops to more than 17 lakh students. Seats for MBBS course in government medical colleges have been increased to 600. Paramedical colleges are also being set up. They have been given jobs. A new state university is also being established.
If you win again, what would be your priorities?
There is no doubt that in the past five years my government has done a lot of work, but a lot more needs to be done, for which I need a second term. I will further strengthen infrastructure, consolidate the power sector and there will be many new things in all sectors.
How would you rate the BSP? Mayawati has given tickets to a lot of Muslims.
The people of Uttar Pradesh have already experienced her government. The BSP government did nothing but made elephants of stone. I would call her government patharwali sarkar (government of stone). She has been eyeing the Muslim votes and, in a way, she is helping the BJP. Listen to some of her speeches, she has already accepted defeat that is why she has been talking about sitting in the opposition. Why does she want to do that? She should remain in the fight. Someone writes her speeches in the night and she reads them the next morning. This time, someone is giving her wrong speeches to deliver.
In the past you have been described as the worst chief minister of UP and there were comments about five and a half chief ministers in the state.
Those who have written this are now writing long articles about me, making cover stories and praising my work, so you can well imagine the situation.
