In his first newspaper interview since the Lok Sabha elections, Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya predicted a strong Bharatiya Janata Party showing in the upcoming by-elections to nine assembly seats in the state, targeting opposition leaders Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi as “feudalist” and “power-hungry”. The BJP, he said, would repeat 2017 in 2027 by winning more than 300 seats. He also spoke of his relationship with chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Edited excerpts:
By-elections to nine assembly seats are due on November 20. How confident are you about the BJP’s showing in these elections?The BJP is poised to win most of the nine seats on the basis of organisational strength and achievements of the double-engine government in the state. We see fight only in one or two seats.
Why do you think that the outcome of the bypolls will be different from the Lok Sabha elections in UP (the BJP and its allies won only 36 of the 80 seats in the state, down from the 64 they won in 2019, while the INDIA bloc won 43)? What has changed in over five months?It is true that our party underperformed in the Lok Sabha polls in the state quite contrary to our confidence and expectations. The Congress-led Opposition succeeded in misleading voters with its false narratives. Now, their lies stand exposed. Moreover, the recent results of assembly elections in Haryana, where the BJP has formed the government for the third consecutive term, has given a befitting reply to the Opposition’s false narrative on issues like Agniveer and efforts to amend the Constitution.
CM Yogi Adityanath’s “batoge toh katoge” (if you are divided, you will be cut down) slogan is much in circulation these days. How do you see this statement?It will not be proper for me to make any comment on the chief minister’s statement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is our supreme leader, has given the slogan “Ek hai toh safe hai” (if you are together, you’ll be safe). We all toe this line only. Our party has always talked of unity. The Opposition blows such statements out of context because they have to do politics of Muslim appeasement.
{{/usCountry}}CM Yogi Adityanath’s “batoge toh katoge” (if you are divided, you will be cut down) slogan is much in circulation these days. How do you see this statement?It will not be proper for me to make any comment on the chief minister’s statement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is our supreme leader, has given the slogan “Ek hai toh safe hai” (if you are together, you’ll be safe). We all toe this line only. Our party has always talked of unity. The Opposition blows such statements out of context because they have to do politics of Muslim appeasement.
{{/usCountry}}Your statement, given after the results of the Lok Sabha polls that the “organisation is bigger than the government”, also drew a lot of attention. Many interpreted it as being an indication of division between the party and the government. Do you still stand by the comment? Certainly. The organisation was bigger than the government yesterday, it is today and will be tomorrow as well. It is only by dint of hard work by the organisation that we are in power both in the state and at the Centre. This is not the first time that I put the organisation above the government. Before 2022 also, I said the same thing in a tweet . But this time, the statement was misinterpreted with many believing that I was saying so in the light of adverse Lok Sabha polls results in the state. But that was not true. I am a disciplined soldier of my party. I adore PM Modi who had the courage of giving the call for “sabka saath sabka vikas” (development for all). Can Rahul Gandhi or Akhilesh Yadav show such courage?
Since 2017, the public perception has been that all is not well between you and CM Yogi Adityanath. (Smiles) No, this is not true. I have excellent relations with the CM. We both took the oath together in 2017, he as the CM and me as the deputy CM. We have been together since. This is the Opposition’s problem.
What is going to happen in 2027?We will repeat 2017 in 2027 by winning more than 300 of the 403 seats
Will the BJP go to the polls in 2027 under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath again?This is something outside my remit. I cannot comment.
As an important OBC leader in the BJP, do you not aspire to a bigger role in the state or in national politics?Having an ambition and the party’s decision are two different things. I am a disciplined party worker and discharge any duty given to me with all diligence and honesty.
How do you see the Samajwadi Party’s PDA (pichde, Dalit and adivasi, an outreach aimed at backward classes and the scheduled classes and tribes) formula?PDA is nothing but a Parivar Development Authority. Akhilesh Yadav (of the SP) is a man of no vision. His party is full of criminals and goons. Good people cannot survive in his party. Those who there today will leave the party soon. This is my prediction.
What about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who in a meeting in Rae Bareli recently, remarked there he could see only “sawarna” (upper caste) officials from the state government?If he is such a well-wisher of SCs and OBCs, why does not he appoint a person from these castes as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha in his place? He should also nominate SCs and OBCs as party presidents in states. But he will never do this. Both Rahul and Akhilesh are feudalists and power-hungry.