Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Bihar Deputy Chief Mnister Tejashwi Yadav has been drawing huge crowds at his public meetings across the state. The chief ministerial face of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has been addressing nearly 20 public meetings back-to-back each day and the crowds, mostly comprising young people, appears to have given the election an “open” character. The Opposition RJD-led alliance of Congress and Left parties are locked in a tough contest on each seat against the Janata Dal (United)-led National Democratic Alliance. In an email interview to Amarnath Tewary of The Hindu, Mr Yadav claimed the UPA would get more than 170 seats out of total 243 seats in the of state assembly. Excerpts:
Are you going to be the new Chief Minister of Bihar?
As far as palpable sentiment on the ground is concerned, I believe people of Bihar now want a change.
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You’re addressing over a dozen public meetings every day, almost thrice the number CM Nitish Kumar is addressing. Is there no other star campaigner in UPA?
It’s not that there is dearth of star campaigners in UPA. But being the CM candidate of Mahagathbandhan , I should reach out to more and more people in the given time and make them aware of the ground reality of Bihar. I want to let them realise that stakes are too high. Frustrations of the unemployed have accumulated for too long now. It needs to be addressed else millions of lives will lose their potential to political ineptness, bureaucratic apathy and policy paralysis. Having said that, addressing 17-18 rallies in a day is not a big deal for me. Had the time allowed or had there been no restrictions, I would have loved to add another 5 to 8 rallies in the daily tally. I am a young, athletic man. I don't get tired easily.
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Why do you think there is a huge turn-out of young people at your public meetings? Is it because of your promise to provide 10 lakh government jobs to them, if voted to power?
We have presented our progressive vision to the people of Bihar and we are very determined to bring very substantial changes in the quality of their lives. We haven’t only promised 10 lakh government jobs but we have plans for every sector and every aggrieved section of society because we know that development is a multidimensional entity and one has to work perseveringly on every facet of it, has to put every cog of the wheel in order to bring about progress in the society. Just having a look at our manifesto Pran Hamara (our resolve) one can easily make out that we mean business. It is this conviction of ours that has caught the imagination of the young people, thus pushing them to throng in huge numbers to our rallies.
How is it possible to provide 10 lakh government jobs with your first signature at first cabinet meeting as providing jobs need certain processes and time?
We have already chalked out the ideal number of personnel required in each department for efficient running of a huge state like Bihar. We should not forget that not only is the population of Bihar huge, but it is also highly densely populated. There is huge shortfall of staff in every department under Bihar Government. And we are determined to run the state efficiently, not just run it for namesake. For a poor state like Bihar, it is an unpardonable sin to be not able to spend every penny of revenue. Bihar notoriously surrenders back almost 80, 000 crores of rupees. This is only possible with inefficient governance and policy paralysis. If we plug only this gap, we will have enough money for every promise made by us in our manifesto. But we are not going to stop at that only. We want to double Bihar's budget in next five years.
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Why has Chief Minister Nitish Kumar started making personal attacks on you?
That he should answer. His every word is a blessing for me. He is an elder and physically and mentally tired so he can say anything.
In his public meetings PM Narendra Modi have been reminding people about ‘jungle raj’ of previous RJD governments and even calling you as ‘ jungle raj ka yuvraj ( crown prince of lawlessness) ’ ? What do you have to say on this?
He is the PM of the country and can say anything about me. He must speak on real life issues like non-existent development, unemployment in the country in general and in Bihar in particular? Can he speak about migration, poverty, deteriorating law and order, education, health, anger and dissatisfaction against NDA government in Bihar? People of Bihar are fed up of irrelevant topics, U- turns and opportunistic politics. They want to talk about their real issues.
How do you react over NDA’s repeated rhetoric of 15 years of Lalu Raj versus 15 years of NDA rule in Bihar?
Eyes have been provided in front of the body for a reason, it hasn't been provided at the back of the skull! They have nothing to talk about their 15 years so they want to deviate from the real issues. People are angry with NDA, and particularly with Nitish ji. Nitish ji played with the hopes of the people for too long and has frittered away 15 precious long years from the lives of lakhs of people. Since he and the NDA have nothing to show as their track record and with zero reliability there are no takers for their false promises about the future.
What if there is a fractured mandate?
There will be no fractured mandate. We are easily going to cross two-third majority mark. Everyone in Bihar knows that including NDA leaders.
If the RJD is voted to power, will there be investigation in the over 50 ‘scams’ what you’ve been speaking about in your public meetings?
Definitely. Without being vengeful at all, we would order investigation in each of the 60 scams systematically done by the Nitish Government. It's not RJD's or BJP's money, it is the money of poor people of Bihar, which cannot be forgotten or forgiven.
And finally, how many seats you hope for RJD and UPA as a whole in this 2020 poll?
The UPA will get more than 170 seats.
