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Azad calls Bahujan Samaj Party ‘dry tree’


Attacking the Samajwadi Party, Aazad said that those who are established, do not want to give a chance to new people…reports Asian Lite News

Azad Samaj Party chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad has said that his new political outfit is emerging as an alternative to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), adding that the latter was a “dry tree which is neither providing shelter nor fruits”.

This is the first time that Chandra Shekhar has openly lashed out against the BSP.

Aazad, who was in Mathura to seek votes for his party candidates contesting elections from Govardhan and Chhata constituencies, said that Dalits had propelled the BSP into power but the party was no longer in a position to do anything for the community because it had become “outdated”.

“Change is the law of nature. If one tree becomes weak then an option should be available and Azad Samaj party is available as an alternative.”

He said that people from the community should realise this and they should extend support to his party and make it powerful in Uttar Pradesh.

The Bhim Army chief, whose political outfit Azad Samaj Party was launched in 2020, is seeking to establish itself as a defender of the rights of Dalits, other backward classes and minorities.

Attacking the Samajwadi Party, Aazad said that those who are established, do not want to give a chance to new people.

“Now our alliance is with the public as they will cast votes for us. Akhilesh cannot make our people MLA. We have to fight our own battle,” he said.

Earlier, Azad said that though he is disappointed with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati, he is still open to post-poll alliances with them because his main objective is to prevent BJP from returning to power.

Chandra Shekhar told reporters that he made an effort to approach Akhilesh to stop BJP from winning.

“I respect Akhilesh Yadav but I cannot see people from other castes and religions suffering. He cheated me but I re-emerged as a stronger person and set up our andolan. I tied up with other smaller parties and formed the Samajik Parivartan Morcha. Why should people even vote for the Opposition parties? Have they fought for people or protected them from BJP’s dictatorship? Akhilesh is saying that if elected, he will restore the old pension scheme but why didn’t he do it when he was the chief minister from 2012 to 2017? However, we will see what happens after the elections and will do whatever is needed to stop BJP from coming to power.”

Asked whether he was positioning himself as a Dalit leader, Chandra Shekhar said, “I am projected as a Dalit leader but I am working towards ‘bahujan ekta’. I have fought for various issues like NEET quota, census for the OBC, CAA and NRC. I have set up youth leadership and given the poor an opportunity to work. Leaders like Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati are more concerned about their own politics than people. What did Mayawati do for Dalits over the past five years? Holding rallies and asking for votes is not her only job. She should be standing with Dalits. I respect her but I cannot leave the Dalit samaj to die at BSP’s hands.”

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Azad hopes to be kingmaker in UP

In an exclusive conversation with Mohammad Suaib Khan, Azad Samaj Party chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad spoke on his reasons for contesting from the Gorakhpur Assembly constituency.

Azad Samaj Party President Chandra Shekhar Aazad is contesting against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from the Goarakhpur Assembly seat. Aazad is confident of his win and his party becoming the kingmaker.

In an exclusive conversation with IANS, Aazad spoke on several issues regarding the state Assembly elections, including his reasons for contesting from the Gorakhpur Assembly constituency. He claims that hundreds of people, including many BJP leaders have asked him to contest the elections as they are upset with the saffron party. Azad promises to pose a formidable political challenge to the BJP.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

Q: What are your expectations while entering the political fray and how many seats are you sure of winning this time?

A: My expectations are democratic, even if a party has won only a single vote, it hopes that it will form the government. My party has been working hard for the last six years. My party has worked for the welfare of the marginalised and deprived sections of the society such as Dalits, backward castes, Muslims, etc. Our party has worked extensively on the issues concerning women, farmers and employment. The common man is angry with all other party leaders except ours as all these parties have been in power in the past. People are disappointed with all other parties as they are not getting employment while inflation across the country is at an all-time high.

My party is contesting in all 403 Assembly constituencies. Only time will tell which party has the people’s support. I don’t want to make tall claims and only believe in working hard. My party knows how to work on the ground, how to fight and has struggled a lot. Today incompetent people are running the country who neither know the constitution nor use parliamentary language. The ruling party only wants to deflect the people’s attention from development and other important issues by doing the politics of religious polarisation.

Q: You are contesting election from the Gorakhpur Assembly constituency, which is a stronghold of the BJP. Are you not committing suicide with such a political decision?

A: “If Gorakhpur is indeed a stronghold of the BJP, then how did it slip away from them during the UP bypolls when the BJP was in the government both in the state and at the Centre. If it is indeed BJP’s stronghold, why then have so many top leaders quit the party in the state? Each and every vote is important which decides who the people choose as an MLA. Yogi ji is also contesting elections for the first time as am I. The people of Uttar Pradesh gave Yogi Ji five years, yet Gorakhpur is in shambles.”

“Murders are frequently happening in Gorakhpur. Hundreds of children are dying due to Japanese Encephalitis while the BJP government is in power. As many as 122 people have been allegedly booked under the stringent National Security Act, 15 such cases have been registered in Gorakhpur alone. Today those party leaders who were supporting Yogi ji are contesting elections against him. There are many cases of corruption against the BJP government. The Election Commission urges other parties not to violate the model code of conduct but while filing their respective nomination, huge political banners have been put on display.”

“If the UP Chief Minister thinks that he will become a tall leader by misusing power, the public will decide soon. I hope that my party will receive people’s support and we will defeat the BJP government.”

Q: Will your party play the role of a kingmaker in the formation of government in Uttar Pradesh?

A: “Yes, my party will play a significant role in the formation of government in the state. Only democracy thrives in our country and arrogant as well as dictatorial regimes will not last long here. Congress was in power in the past for a long time, I have seen them being voted out of power.”

“The situation in Gorakhpur is extremely bad and it is such that when I came here, hundreds of people and several top BJP leaders told me that they want an opposition leader to give the BJP a tough political challenge. If someone challenges the BJP to fight them politically, then the ruling BJP uses the Enforcement Directorate and other central investigating agencies as tools to harass their political opponents. I am the only opposition leader who can politically fight the BJP. So the people will vote for my party and help us win the elections.”

“I belong to Uttar Pradesh and the people of Gorakhpur need me. The BJP government did not work despite the people giving it a chance to govern the state for the last five years, therefore now the people want me to contest elections.”

Q: If your party plays a decisive role in forming the government in the state, then with which party will you form an alliance?

A: “I will reiterate again that the BJP government has been given the chance to govern the state for five years. Now the people should give me a chance to become the state Chief Minister. One significant issue is the implementation of a caste census in the state, why is the BJP government staying silent over it? Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Ji had said that his party stands firmly with leaders from the backward community, why is he not uttering a word on the 52 per cent reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). So why is the BJP or the SP not making promises on important issues if they want to form the government in the state.

Q: Will you stake claim for the Chief Minister’s chair as the role of a kingmaker?

A: “Of course my party will, if we get a chance because only then will we able to do something for the people.”

Q: In Uttar Pradesh, you are a youth leader. Do national parties face a threat from your party in future. This is why they do not want you to stitch an alliance with your party in the ongoing state Assembly elections?

A: “I believe in doing hard work, I don’t know how long I will live. The identity of a person is known by his/her work. My father was a teacher and I come from a poor family.

I understand that during the last 70 years, if the poor continue to stay poor, then how have we changed as a country? If the government is giving free ration as the elections are near, then it is the responsibility of the government. The people choose a government so that their problems are addressed.

“People in Uttar Pradesh are still deprived of basic facilities, the condition of roads in Muzaffarnagar is quite bad. People have given every party a chance to be in power in the past, I am young and want to do politics of change.

I don’t want to do politics promoting family rule and corruption. If I am part of any government and injustice is done to any person, then I will not remain silent. My party will stand with the people who are in distress and demand accountability from the government in power which is what all other parties fear.”

Q: BSP supremo Mayawati ji is not seen actively during the ongoing state elections, will the people see you as repacing her as a mass Dalit leader?

A: “The socialist ideology means working with certain principles, I do not work only for the Dalit community. Mayawati ji is much older than me and I respect her. Every party has their own political strategy. As elections are approaching, Akhilesh ji and other party leaders are coming forward to garner people’s votes. Leaders from various parties did not interact with people on the ground for the last five years when the people needed their support the most.

“Behenji (Mayawati) is making necessary efforts, since the past many times people have chosen to distance themselves from her. The people are doing so since they feel that leaders like Mayawati are present among the people only during the election season. People are disappointed with the BJP government and people are supporting my party as we work at the ground level. My party fights against any form of injustice and raises pertinent issues. I am contesting state elections for the first time. I have given tickets to more than 100 people from the backward community despite hailing from poor families.”

Elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases and voting will take place on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3 and 7. The results will be declared on March 10. The first phase of polling will start from districts of western Uttar Pradesh and gradually end with eastern Uttar Pradesh districts.

As many as 58 Assembly constituencies will go to polls during the first phase and 64 seats in the final and seventh phase.

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It’s Yogi vs Azad in Gorakhpur

The Bhim Army chief and his party have no base in Gorakhpur or even eastern Uttar Pradesh. The Gorakhpur Sadar assembly seat has been with the BJP continuously since 1989, except once when it was won by Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, reports Asian Lite News

The first candidate to be declared against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Gorakhpur is Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad.

The Dalit leader had said earlier he would contest against Yogi Adityanath in the February-March election. Today, his party formally announced it, days after the BJP declared that Yogi Adityanath would contest the UP election from Gorakhpur Sadar.

Yogi Adityanath is running for MLA for the first time. But his main rival will be the Samajwadi Party candidate, not announced yet.

This will also be Chandrashekhar Azad’s first election.

The 34-year-old had famously backtracked after announcing in 2019 that he would contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He later explained that since he had no party at the time, it was best to support Mayawati’s party and the Congress.

Now that he has one, he would take on Yogi Adityanath, he had said.

“It is not important for me to win a place in the UP assembly. It is important for me that Yogi Adityanath should not get to be in the assembly. So I will contest wherever he is contesting,” he had said last year.

The Bhim Army chief and his party have no base in Gorakhpur or even eastern Uttar Pradesh. The Gorakhpur Sadar assembly seat has been with the BJP continuously since 1989, except once when it was won by Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha. In 2017, the BJP’s Radha Mohan Das Agarwal won the seat back by a margin of over 60,000 votes.

Chandrashekhar Azad recently declared that his party would not tie up with the Samajwadi Party of Akhilesh Yadav, after their seat share talks collapsed.

He declared that he felt cheated by the Samajwadi Party and that it had reneged on its promise to offer his party 25 seats to contest.

Akhilesh Yadav said he would try to ensure that two seats were set aside for Azad’s party but he was told the Bhim Army chief was no longer interested.

The Chandrashekhar Azad-led Bhim Army drew attention during the May 2017 clashes between Dalits and upper caste Thakurs in Saharanpur.

Chandrashekhar Azad was arrested after the clashes. Though he was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court, the Uttar Pradesh police arrested him under the stringent National Security Act (NSA). He was released in September 2018 after 16 months in jail.

On January 18, Azad who is a staunch BJP critic, said his political outfit – Azad Samaj Party – is open to stitching an alliance with others and maintained that his fight has always been with the ruling party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The seven-phases polling for the UP election will commence from February 10 and will continue till March 7. The Gorakhpur urban seat will go to vote in the sixth phase, on March 3.

The votes will be counted on March 10.

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Ghulam Nabi Azad to chair Congress task force on Covid

Meanwhile, the Congress Working Committee has decided to postpone the presidential polls of the party due to the surge in Covid-19 cases…reports Asian Lite News.

Congress has set up a task force on Covid and one of the party’s top dissenting voices, Ghulam Nabi Azad, has been appointed as its Chairman.

Others on the 13-member committee include Ambika Soni, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mukul Wasnik, Pawan Kumar Bansal, K.C. Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala, and Jairam Ramesh.

The inclusion of Azad comes as a surprise as he raised the issue of elections in the party and demanded more visible leadership.

The task force will oversee relief operations run by the party as control rooms have been set at the central and state level, along with efforts by Youth Congress workers.

In its meeting on Monday, the Congress Working Committee passed a resolution, reading: “The Congress Party commits to fighting the Covid-19 pandemic with its entire might and will support every people-friendly initiative of the government in fighting the pandemic.”

“The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is nothing short of a grave calamity and a direct consequence of the Modi government’s indifference, insensitivity and incompetence. It is the direct result of the Central government’s willful disregard of scientific advice, its premature declaration of victory over the pandemic (that turned out to be just the first wave), and its unwillingness and inability to plan in advance in spite of warnings sounded not only by public health experts but also by the Standing Committee of Parliament concerned,” it said.

Meanwhile, the Congress Working Committee has decided to postpone the presidential polls of the party due to the surge in Covid-19 cases.

“The CWC considered the election schedule for electing the AICC President as proposed by Central Election Authority of the party.

“In view of the nationwide emergent conditions prevailing on account of unprecedented corona pandemic, the CWC was unanimous that all our energies should be channelised towards saving every life and helping every Covid affected person. The CWC, therefore, unanimously resolved to defer the elections temporarily in the midst of these challenging times,” the Congress’ top decision-making authority said in a resolution.

Party General Secretary Randeep Surjewala, however, clarified that its a temporary deferment due to the present pandemic.

In the CWC meeting held on Monday, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot demanded the postponement of the election which was supported by senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was the prime mover in the demand for elections in the organisation in August last year. Digvijaya Singh, meanwhile, demanded Rahul Gandhi be brought back as chief, sources said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

The party’s Central Election Authority headed by Madhusudan Mistry will now draw up a new schedule after the pandemic subsides.

The CWC in January had decided that the party will go for organisational polls after the elections in five states are over.

General Secretary, Organisations, K.C. Venugopal had said on January 22 after a crucial CWC meeting that the Congress will have an “elected” party President by June.

The decision to hold the elections for the party President was taken after group of leaders wrote to Sonia Gandhi and demanded “a more visible and permanent” President for the party after Rahul Gandhi stepped down from the post following the party’s defeat in the 2019 general elections.

The rift in the Congress between the dissenting leaders (G-23) and Team Rahul Gandhi was out in the open since then, and led to the exclusion of the former from the Congress campaigners’ list in the five state elections – where the Congress was again out of the reckoning.

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