Varanasi, March 4: Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Thakur, believes that the clean image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will help the BJP against the ‘corrupt’ and ‘goon’ image of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and others in the ongoing Assembly elections.
In an exclusive interview with IANS, Thakur, who is also BJP’s election co-incharge for Uttar Pradesh, said that the BJP’s fight against ‘goons’ and ‘mafias’ will continue on a stronger note in the next five years in Uttar Pradesh.
Expressing confidence of improving BJP’s 2017 Assembly poll performance in UP, he said that the saffron party will again win with more than 300 seats in the 403-member state Assembly. “If you look at the work done in the last five years, we have provided clean governance and at the same time goons and mafias have been weeded out,” Thakur said.
Interview excerpts:
Q: As the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh enter the last phase, how do you see BJP’s chances
A: As per my assessment after seeing people’s overwhelming support, I can say that the BJP will retain power in Uttar Pradesh with a thumping majority. ‘Abki baar phir se 300 paar’ (over 300 seats this time too)… We will perform better than the previous Assembly polls and once again win more than 300 seats.
Q: Being the party’s election co-incharge for UP, you are actively involved with the polls. What are the key issues?
A: Welfare of the poor, law and order, safety and security of the people are the key issues in these polls. We have done very well in these core issues concerning the people. If you look at the work done in the last five years, we have provided clean governance and at the same time goons and mafias have been weeded out from Uttar Pradesh. This is what we promised five years back to the people, and we worked on them to make the people of Uttar Pradesh safe and secure.
Q: Om Prakash Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and Swami Prasad Maurya left the BJP to join hands with the Samajwadi Party, and they can influence the last phase of polling. Are they going to affect BJP’s chances?
A: This time, Anupriya Patel’s Apna Dal and Sanjay Nishad’s Nishad Party are in alliance with us. If you look at the past, many became MLAs after joining hands with the BJP. There are people who search for a new ‘swami’ every five years. People have seen how for five years they hailed Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Adityanath and didn’t get tired listing the achievements of the state government. People are asking as to what happened that they have now started criticising the BJP.
If Maurya is in a strong position, why did he run away from his constituency Padrauna? The ground has become slippery. I can give in writing, both Rajbhar and Maurya are losing.
Q: The Opposition alleges that BJP has shifted from its development agenda to nationalism and religion. What would you say?
A: Nationalism is part of the BJP’s ideology, as safety and security of the nation is paramount to us. Good governance and development are the poll planks of BJP and we have been contesting elections on them for the last so many years. The clean image of Modi ji and Yogi ji will help us against the corrupt and goon image of Akhilesh ji and others. As far as the UP elections are concerned, we are very clear that our fight against these goons and mafias will go on more strongly in the next five years and the development agenda will progress further with more vigour. (IANS)
