HOW DOES IT look for the BSP-SP alliance so far?
When the alliance was formed, I had said it was an alliance of the people, of the poor, of the rural and an alliance of hope. Ye dilon se banaya hua gathbandhan hai (It is an alliance made from the hearts). People have come out in large numbers to vote for it. It will be a historical result.
How is this alliance different from the ones you had before?
When the BJP had won, there was talk about its social engineering and excellent caste mathematics. Maybe, we learnt from the BJP to strike winning alliances. We also have our work to talk about—the expressway, the metro, laptop distribution, social schemes like the Samajwadi Pension Yojana, women’s helpline, the doubling of MBBS seats, infrastructure expansion, cancer institutes, sports stadia and engineering colleges. We were lacking in numbers; now the alliance will get us those numbers.
You have said that Mulayam Singh Yadav is not in the race for PM.
Netaji is definitely not in the race for the PM. The SP is only in the race for making a new PM. Anyone can be that new PM.
Has the level of discourse in this election fallen?
If we listen to the PM and CM, they are talking about terrorism but not saying what they have done to eliminate it. Why are they not talking about the promises they made in 2014? Earlier, they said development was possible only if they had their own mayor, governor, CM, MLAs, MPs and PM. Now they are all theirs, but what have they done? People are getting nothing and are rightly disappointed. The youth were promised two crore jobs and then told to go make pakoras. I thought hard about why this was said and then realised that it was to increase palm oil consumption in the country. Who is getting this palm oil into the country? Of course, industrialist friends of the BJP.... They want to kill off the state’s Rs 90,000 crore edible oil market to benefit their friends. They talk about Swadeshi movement, but buy from China. They talk of Kashmir, but not about Mansarovar. What has happened to the cleaning of the Ganga? All studies say that bacterial count is high, dissolved oxygen has fallen.
How does being a junior partner in the alliance affect your say in decision making?
There is no senior-junior in politics. Mayawatiji is senior. She has experience and has struggled her way to the top. You might perceive it anyway, but I know this is the only alliance that can take on the BJP.
Is a post-poll alliance with the Congress possible?
We have left two seats for the Congress. They should fight and win them. I can’t say what will happen post polls.
How do you react to the Congress’s claim of helping you on the ground?
What is done for the larger good is not openly proclaimed like this; it is understood. This is the first time ever that a party has said that it is fielding weak candidates. The BSP-SP alliance is defeating the BJP. The Congress is not getting any support, hence it is speaking like this.
In the last Lok Sabha election, the BJP had a higher share than the BSP-SP. Who is the new voter coming to you in this election?
Since 2017, there is a visible change in the support to the BJP. Traders who were harassed by GST and demonetisation will vote for us, as will young people who were hopeful of jobs, farmers who had imagined their incomes would rise one and a half times. All the dalit, backward and minority votes are with us, as is the vote of the disillusioned higher castes.