New Delhi: The national president of Samajwadi Party and ex chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav started off by emphasising how the Pichda, Dalit and Adivasi (PDA) helped the party defeat the gigantic election machinery of Bharatiya Janata Party.
Akhilesh Yadav said, “Alot of things are going on in the parliament right now (as a lot of issues are being picked up against the BJP) and therefore a lot of political parties become uncomfortable after they hear about PDA strategy. Recently when we gave a role of LoP in the assembly to person who comes from underrepresented community, the most uncomfortable party was the BJP. Moreover, had they worked for the people, the BJP would not have lost the elections with such a huge number, although Modi has won but going by the votes, he has lost.”
He also talked about how the caste census is going to uplift the underrepresented people, “If we see today, Congress who were against the caste census are today with caste census and it is going to benefit all the backward people and minorities. We gave the representation to PDA and therefore the BJP lost it.” He added, “We have made an effort to bring the people from PDA community together and that’s what we are going to focus on, help them grow.”
Asked whether they had marked out a particular strategy before elections, Akhilesh said, “We had no strategy, we were clear about our work and how we are going to tell people how BJP has failed and when Congress came together with us we got a national narrative and were able to fight together. The good thing is, both the top leaders (Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav) were seen together, we coordinated well about which I thankful to all the rank and file who gelled up with Congress. Since we have worked with a lot of parties before that experience helped us work out a better deal with Congress in the elections.”
Akhilesh also said, “When people asked us about how we can be with TMC in Bengal and also with Congress at the same time, we said that the relationship we had with one party, we are going to carry on with that and also the new formation we have formed we are going to respect that as well. That’s how Samajwadis work and thus there was no rebellion from anywhere.”
Akhilesh further added, “We should know that the parties who come to helm the government do not stay, they come and go. And at times, there is a lot of injustice that happens during their governance, I want to make it known that wherever there is going to be injustice the Samajwadi party is going to support them.”
He also talked about how he started off his career from Delhi. Akhilesh said, “From a long time I am in Delhi, I started with Delhi, the first time I contested Lok Sabha elections was in 2000. On the other hand Uttar Pradesh is a big state and its politics is different. Recently UP politics had gained pace and now after some time it will again gain pace (refering to the rumours of replacement of Yogi Adityanatg).
