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Uttarakhand Election 2022 Exclusive: 'BJP has fulfilled all promises; Congress failed as an Opposition'

Uttarakhand BJP President Madan Kaushik speaks to Asianet Newsable on the party's prospects in the forthcoming assembly elections in the state.

Uttarakhand Election 2022 Exclusive interview with state BJP President Madan Kaushik
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Dehradun, First Published Dec 24, 2021, 3:26 PM IST

Bharatiya Janata Party is confident that the party would return to power in Uttarakhand regardless of the state of disarray in which the principal Opposition party, the Congress, finds itself in today. The state BJP unit believes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's blessings and the state government's track record will ensure its victory in the forthcoming assembly elections in early 2022. 

Asianet Newsable's Yacoob spoke to Uttarakhand BJP President Madan Kaushik, during which the latter clarifies that the party will contest the forthcoming elections under the leadership of Pushkar Singh Dhami and that he will be the chief minister when the party returns to power. The Uttarakhand BJP president further claimed that the party had implemented every promise it had made at the previous election. Read on. 

The Congress is in a state of disarray. Harish Rawat has revolted. Why do you think he posted those tweets?

When we speak about the Congress party (in Uttarakhand) and he (Harish Rawat) in particular, who should do what in the party organisation and who should be party president, he only decides that and ensures the victory of candidates. There is an internal rebellion brewing. In Vidhan Sabha, MLAs are prevented from speaking. And the president of the party is barred from speaking outside the assembly. The (Congress) party has not raised any public issue in the last five years. And in today's situation, Congress has failed as an Opposition and cannot win people's faith.

Will the rebellion in Congress benefit the BJP? How confident is BJP in Uttarakhand this time?

BJP never thinks of taking advantage of internal rebellion in Opposition parties. BJP is a cadre-based party. It has a booth committee, Shakti Kendra, Mandal committee and a state organisation. We have the blessings of the world's most popular leader, Narendra Modi. We have a youth leader as chief minister (Pushkar Singh Dhami), and we have a good track record. We will go before the voters with these factors. We have launched the 'Vijay Sankalp' rally hoping to return to power again.

You have said if the BJP returns to power, Pushkar Singh Dhami will continue to remain on the CM's post. The Opposition, however, claims that post-election, there may be internal rebellion in the BJP over the CM's post. How do you respond to this?

There is no internal feud among us (BJP). We will face an election under the leadership of Chief Minister Dhami. And once the election is over, we will elect him again (as CM). There is internal democracy in the party. The works are happening. We also have PM Modi's support, and there is no confusing situation.

On what issues will the Uttarakhand elections be fought?

We will showcase five years of development work, our programmes for women and schemes to empower youths. We launched many projects and held employment programmes. We have given nearly 8 lakh jobs to the youth. We came up with the 'Kisan Sammaan Nidhi' to increase farmers' income. Be it farmers, youth and women, and members from the different segments, we have taken care of all in the last five years, and we will seek votes based on pro-people programmes.

The party received flak over its Covid-19 handling, especially after former Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat last year allowed Kumbh. Will this have any impact on the election? What do you say?

The guidelines from the Government of India and the state government were followed and conducted programs (Kumbh), and we will do so in the future. I think there will be no issues (will not impact election). There is no link between Kumbh Mela and Covid rise. Not even one person got infected for participating in the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar. Some people spread rumours to tarnish the government and politicise the Kumbh Mela.

In Uttar Pradesh, PM Modi's factor is likely to play a critical role as the concept 'MDH' (Modi, Development and Hindutva) is spreading. Will Uttarakhand adopt the same model?

See, when we speak about development, we have PM Modi's face. We have many development programmes that were launched through him. When we talk about Hindutva, it is our tradition. Each person feels proud about it. It will be wrong to limit it to any one community. Hindutva means India, and India means Hindutva. Ours is development-based politics. We do not play any other politics. If people are discussing (branding BJP as communal), it is left to them. Why should we have a problem?

Congress leader Ganesh Godiyal has accused the BJP government of failing to give employment and sold government jobs for 15 lakh. What is your response?

No, No. That you should have asked him (Godiyal) only. If it is true, give the evidence about the same. Bring the person who you feel has been cheated. Just doing a political stunt is not good.

How many of the manifesto promises has the BJP government in Uttarakhand fulfilled?

We have fulfilled 100 per cent of our promises. Now I think we are in the process of making a new manifesto based on public suggestions. I feel we may get lakhs of recommendations, and based on this, we will make the manifesto.

What would you term as the biggest successes of the BJP government in the state?

See, if we are talking about the most significant successes, it is about earning the public's trust. In the last four-plus years, we were successful based on our development programme and the Government of India's help, based on infrastructure development, women's programmes, and programmes for youth like employment that we have dedicated for our people.

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