Lucknow, April 22 (IANS) UP Deputy Chief Minister, Keshav Prasad Maurya, has said that in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, SP President, Akhilesh Yadav will face his fifth defeat. In an interview with IANS, Dy CM Maurya, who is campaigning vigorously, mounted a scathing attack on ex-CM Akhilesh Yadav.

IANS: SP chief Akhilesh has claimed that in the first phase of elections, the BJP will not open its account. What do you have to say on this?

Maurya: Akhilesh has faced defeat in four consecutive elections and is going to lose his fifth. The BJP has won 8 out of 8 seats in the first phase of elections and will also win 80 out of 80 seats in UP. The election results that will be declared on June 4 will be in favour of the BJP. We will cross 400 seats.

IANS: The BJP is said to have made a bouquet of caste groups. But in this election, it is being seen that Saini, Tyagi and Kshatriya are upset with the party. What effect will this have on the elections?

Maurya: No one is angry. Everyone is happy. The anger that is visible is seen in the statements of Opposition leaders and in media headlines. Just like in 2017, the media and Opposition leaders don’t have ground-level information. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the RLD which was with these people along with the SP and BSP, won 64 seats. Akhilesh Yadav, who had given the slogan of crossing 400 in 2022, did not even know when his bicycle got punctured. The support that BJP is getting in 2024 is unprecedented.

IANS: Was the effect of caste protests visible in the first phase of elections?

Maurya: Those who oppose are very few in number. People are neither against PM Modi nor against the BJP. If suppose there are 1 lakh people in a society, then out of them 10 people oppose and the rest are standing in support but do not speak. Then it does not mean that they are not in support. Some people are in opposition because of their personal interests. But the rest of the people are in support of PM Modi and the BJP.

IANS: The Opposition is repeatedly accusing BJP of misuse of central investigating agencies.

Maurya: The investigating agencies in this country are doing their own work. According to their data, only 3 per cent people associated with politics are under the ambit of that investigation and some of them have been found guilty in that probe. Investigating agencies have taken action against such people. But an investigating agency is not the final authority. The BJP has not established central probe agencies. These are the agencies established immediately after Independence and were working brilliantly. Now when action is being taken today, should someone be forgiven merely because he is a leader or office-bearer of a political party or is a minister in the government? The Constitution and law of India does not allow it. Whoever does wrong, will be punished.

IANS: The Opposition keeps claiming that the BSP is the ‘B team’ of the BJP. But this time, all the candidates that former CM Mayawati has fielded, are cutting into the vote bank of the BJP.

Maurya: No one is part of our team. BJP is BJP. Opposition parties are Opposition parties. Whatever candidates their party wants to field, they can field them. The BJP has already defeated the SP-BSP alliance in the 2019 elections. That is why we do not see which candidate is coming from which party. The people of the country and the state are seeing only one thing -- our candidate is only PM Narendra Modi.

IANS: You do not make personal allegations or comments against anyone. But Ram Gopal Yadav commented on you, what do you say about this?

Maurya: The Congress abused PM Modi and India became a Congress-free country. I will not use abusive words against Akhilesh Yadav or his uncle, because I have been a worker of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Apart from this, I come from a family where an idea is opposed but there is no personal opposition. I will only tell them that the public will respond to that abuse by pressing the lotus button.

IANS: This time the issue of polarisation is not visible.

Maurya: This is because the politics of appeasement has ended. The politics of satisfaction has started. We are working towards everybody’s growth. With everyone's efforts and everyone's trust, the country is moving forward at a fast pace under the leadership of PM Modi. The appeasement agenda of any particular party does not seem to be succeeding now. People have accepted development in place of casteism.

IANS: The Opposition is repeatedly alleging that if you come to power again, you will change the Constitution.

Maurya: This is a planned and unsuccessful attempt to spread rumours and mislead people. BJP will bring the Uniform Civil Code. If the Constitution must be changed then it is a provision in the Constitution that there should be one country and one law in this country. If BJP comes to power, it will work on preparing a voters’ list and conducting elections. One nation will work to conduct one election. If we want to change the Constitution by removing Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, then these people can mislead people. Actually, this is a conspiracy of the Opposition to defame BJP because they fear that the BJP will come to power again.