As the long seven-phase polls in Uttar Pradesh wind to a close, BJP president Amit Shah speaks to Nistula Hebbar on the elections so far, who the BJP’s rivals are and the impact of demonetisation….
Two-thirds of the election has gone by, which phase has been the best for you and how do you look at the next two phases?
All the five phases so far in the U.P. elections have seen massive support and large-scale voting in favour of the BJP. The groundswell of support in these elections is stronger than the one seen during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls when we got 73 of 80 seats. We are confident that when election results are announced on March 11, we will form the next government in the State with more than two-thirds majority. We expect that the support for the BJP, the huge development work by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and our blueprint for the development of Uttar Pradesh will ensure that the tsunami of support for the party will decimate our rivals in the remaining two phases as well.
What makes you so confident? Both the SP-Congress alliance and the BSP claim that they have outpaced you.
The last 15 years of SP and BSP rule have destroyed U.P., and India’s biggest State is still categorised as a BIMARU one. On the other hand, BJP-ruled States like M.P., Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana and Goa have gone way ahead on all parameters of development.
These BJP-ruled States have 24-hour power while cities and villages in U.P. still have to face long power cuts despite abundant power generation in the country. Law and order has completely collapsed in U.P., and it is the number one State when it comes to heinous crimes like murder and rape. People, whether it is men or women, feel unsafe. The present SP government has broken all previous corruption records. On the other hand, under the leadership of PM Modi, our government has taken a series of initiatives and launched several schemes to alleviate the sufferings of the poor and the marginalised; to name a few, the Ujwala gas connection to over 5.2 million poor women, electrification of 1464 villages, 3 crore Jandhan accounts and 20,000 crore low-interest Mudra loans etc. However, the inept and corrupt SP government has ensured that the benefits of many schemes do not reach the poor.
But the people of U.P. have seen through the Akhilesh government’s machinations. They have decided to uproot the SP government and bring in a double engine government (same party rule at the Centre and the State) to boost the development of Uttar Pradesh.
In an interview to The Hindu , Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said that demonetisation would hurt the chances of the BJP. How do you parry this assertion?
Perhaps, Rahulji is not aware about the string of election results that have come out in the last couple of months post-demonetisation. The BJP has emerged victorious in each of these elections – be it civic poll in Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh or the recently concluded civic polls in Maharashtra where we registered a huge victory by winning 8 out of 10 municipal corporations.
In Odisha, we have given a serious challenge to Naveen Patnaik’s BJD government where we won an astounding 307 seats in panchayat elections, which is a nine-fold jump from only 36 seats in the 2012 elections.
The BJP’s strong electoral performance in various parts of the country is a clear proof that people are firmly with the government’s demonetisation drive to rid the country of black money. Rahulji will get more proof in the coming days when the results for Assembly elections are announced. Further, the third quarter GDP growth at 7% shows that demonetisation did not impact the economy and belies the claims of the Opposition that demonetisation would hurt growth. I am sure that on March 11, your headline will be “BJP demonetises the Opposition in U.P.”.
Why did the party take the call of not projecting a chief ministerial face and do you consider that to be an advantage or a disadvantage?
Every State has its own dynamics, character, and equation. We went into elections in States like Haryana, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand without a CM candidate and registered a comprehensive victory. The governments in these States have been performing very well. Being a cadre-based party, we have multiple leaders and workers who are more than capable of leading a State government.
How do you see the results of the U.P. elections impacting national politics.
The U.P. election results will be yet another vote of confidence for the policies and vision of the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre. The results will further strengthen the resolve of the Central government to work for the masses and deliver on the promises. The election results will also hasten the end of dynasty, caste and religion-based politics in the country.
As the election moves decisively to the east, which party is your principal opponent? You had said last May that you saw the SP as the party to beat, do you hold by that?
U.P. is a vast State and each constituency has its local factors influencing the choice of voters. Hence, our opponents differ from constituency to constituency. That said, we are contenders for the top position in each of the 403 seats.
