New Delhi: The BJP will come to power with a 2/3rd majority in Uttar Pradesh, party national president Amit Shah told Network18 in an exclusive interview, adding that the voters were smart enough to see through Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s attempts to use the Samajwadi Party family drama to cover up his poor track record.
The BJP is pitted against a formidable alliance that saw SP chief Akhilesh and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi sharing stage for the first time on Sunday. Talking to Network 18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, the BJP chief conceded his main rival was the SP-Congress combo, but he said Akhilesh’s failure to ensure rule of law will be his undoing.
“Massive cattle theft has robbed people of their livelihoods, families are being raped in highways, parents are afraid to send their girls to colleges, and people are migrating because of fear and joblessness... The election will be on this issue (of law & order). Akhilesh is wrong if he thinks he can fool people with his family drama and an alliance," Shah said.
Shah made it amply clear that BJP would take on the alliance with law and order as the major focus. He also rubbished allegations that the party’s emphasis on women’s security, cattle theft and exodus was part of a strategy to keep the communal cauldron burning.
As for the other elections happening along with UP, Shah said his party will win Uttarakhand easily while in Punjab it was a triangular fight. As for sending Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar back to Goa as CM if the party comes back to power, Shah had this to say: “The party has not yet decided to send Manohar Parrikar back to Goa as CM. What we have said is that if people of Goa and the elected MLAs want, both the options are open."
“In BJP, family members of leaders are free to work hard for the party, run for elections and become MLAs. But whether they will become CM or not depends solely on their merit. So let’s not have simplistic definitions on dynasty politics," he said.
“If Rahul Gandhi has a child, there is no confusion then who will be the next Congress president. But can you guess who will be the next BJP president? No you cannot. This is the difference between the BJP and all other parties," he said.
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