The BJP's comprehensive win in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections finally broke a 36-year-old jinx of the incumbent government being voted back to power in the state. The incumbent CM Yogi Adityanath led the BJP to poll victory, riding a high-decibel election campaign, with thrust on the development agenda along with welfare schemes.
"We, in the BJP, attribute this success to the deprived and downtrodden sections of society. It is the victory of women's power and ‘motherhood’ as the other half of the population stood by us solidly and have supported us overwhelmingly breaking the family barriers,” said UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh in an interview with Namita Bajpai. Excerpts:
Q. How do you view this victory of your party?
A. I view this as the victory of the people of Uttar Pradesh. The BJP earned it through the extreme diligence of the BJP leadership and, of course, the BJP workers who put in their blood and sweat to make it possible today and got immense love of people.
Q. How do you conceive this success as the party has created a record of returning to power after completion of a full 5-yr term? What have been the reasons behind your victory?
A. We in BJP attribute this success to the deprived and downtrodden sections of society. It is the victory of women's power and ‘motherhood’ as the other half of the population stood by us solidly and have supported us overwhelmingly breaking the family barriers. In fact, we have got support from all sections of society. They showered their blessings on us acknowledging our work and commitment to give them a better life. The reason is a hard-working and committed CM in Yogi Adityanath, the guidance of PM Modi, and the clean and effective governance of five years during which we ensured the development of everyone irrespective of caste and community, unlike the earlier governments.
Q. Your take on the strategy of the Samajwadi Party which posed a tough fight to your party?
A. In fact, Samajwadi Party does the politics of caste and community. It is evident from the alliances they stitched in this election. They drove defection in all the major parties and inducted leaders to win their caste vote but the public has responded to them in true spirit. The turncoats like Swami Prasad Maurya and Dharam Singh Saini have bitten the dust. It has become clear, that the people of UP want development and genuine work on the ground instead of caste and communal politics. It is time for the SP to sit back and introspect. They did not even play a constructive opposition during the last five years. They did not step out of the comfortable confines for five years.
Q. Now how will the next government be different from the previous one?
A. We will work with more vigour for the betterment of the people. We will give further impetus to the development of the state. We expect Samajwadi Party and other political players to come shoulder to shoulder with us to take the state forward on the path of growth and all-around development.
Q. What message do you think the people of UP have given to the opposition
A. People have rejected the politics of dynasty, the politics of comfort and convenience. People have given a very strong message to those who did the politics of Twitter by remaining confined to their AC rooms and enjoying frequent vacations abroad. They were under the impression that they will lure the voters by promising freebies and win the election. The voters in UP are very mature and politically aware.