Keshav Prasad Maurya, the Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Phulpur, Uttar Pradesh, made headlines when he won his seat in 2014 with a margin of over five lakh votes. He is now a symbol of the BJP’s social engineering formula in Uttar Pradesh and the party plans to use his OBC credentials to expand its vote base — a fact that he vehemently denies. Mr Maurya, 46, is considered inexperienced and relatively junior by many in the party, but the fact that he enjoys the confidence of the party high command puts him firmly ahead of the rest. In an interview with Amita Verma, he talks, albeit cautiously, about politics, elections and his party in Uttar Pradesh. Excerpts from the interview
The BJP in Uttar Pradesh has suddenly turned its focus on dalit votes. What is the reason for this?
This is a very wrong perception and accusation because the BJP has never worked for only one section of society. We are an all-inclusive party that believes in “Sabka saath, sabka vikas”. As a political outfit it is our duty to work for those who have been left behind in terms of development. These sections that have lagged behind have a right to come forward and we are only doing that — nothing more should be read into this.
It seems that you are fighting more against the Bahujan Samaj Party than the Samajwadi Party which is currently in power?
We are going to campaign aggressively against both — the BSP and the SP — because these parties are two sides of the same coin. There is goondaism, corruption, nepotism, casteism and also individualism that is promoted in these parties — everything except people’s welfare and interest. You can see deterioration in the law and order situation, atrocities against women and the plight of common man in the SP and BSP regimes.
Who do you consider your main rival in the Uttar Pradesh elections?
It is going to be the SP and the BSP because the Congress has no relevance in the state.
Your appointment as the state party chief is being seen as an attempt to woo the Other Backward Classes because you belong to an OBC caste.
I have certainly not been appointed because I am an OBC. I have been working in the party and have taken part in party programmes for over a decade and a half. My appointment to this post shows that even a small party worker can be given a big responsibility. I am aware that there are many who are senior and more capable than me in the party and yet I have been appointed to this post. This proves how different the BJP is from other parties that only promote their family members.
You cannot deny that the caste factor plays an important role in Uttar Pradesh politics and in every party, including the BJP.
The people of Uttar Pradesh are not casteist — some parties promote casteism, but the BJP is not one of them. Parties like the SP and the BSP have promoted casteism and sub-casteism to keep them going. These parties have created vote banks and pamper people for electoral gains. But once elections are over, their leaders revert to corruption and nepotism.
In 2014, when people of the state got a chance, they voted for development and the BJP won 73 out of 80 seats. If casteism had been a factor, the BJP would have not got so many seats.
Your appointment as Uttar Pradesh BJP president is said to have upset the senior leaders as well as upper castes who are feeling sidelined. How will you cope with this situation?
Since the day my name has been announced, my seniors in the party have given me their blessings and are cooperating with me at every level. I have no complaints whatsoever in this regard and it is only with their guidance that I will move forward.
As far as upper castes are concerned, there is no resentment because the BJP is a cadre-based party and not a caste-based one.
You have brushed aside the Ram temple issue and have said that you will focus on development. Will this not hurt Hindu sentiments since you are also seen as a Hindu hardliner?
I have not brushed aside the Ram temple issue. All I said was that this cannot be a poll plank. It is a matter of faith and will remain one. We cannot use it as a poll issue. I believe elections should be contested on the development issue and competition between parties should be on the development metre. Is it not ridiculous that we are labelled as communal even though we do not wish to make Ram temple a poll issue?
For instance, Bundelkhand is facing a drought situation but the state government chose to ignore the region until the Prime Minister’s Office intervened. Funds being sent to Uttar Pradesh by the Centre are lying unutilised and this is hampering development. This happens whenever the Centre sends money for development and this is one major reason why we want to remove the barrier called SP in the next election.
The BJP organisation in Uttar Pradesh is in shambles. How do you propose to set things in order when elections are barely a few months away?
We already have a strong organisation with maximum membership and committees at all the 1,40,000 booths. In 2012, the SP came to power by perpetuating a fraud on the youth, but the party now stands exposed. The youth are veering towards us and our organisation is mobilising them.
Your party workers are getting increasingly undisciplined. They are putting up posters that depict you as a deity and weighing you in coins — these are things that never happened in the BJP.
Those who made these posters are not from the BJP. I have issued a directive that no posters depicting anyone as a deity should be printed and have also appealed to party workers to work for the poor instead of weighing leaders in coins. These are teething troubles that will disappear soon. Each and every party worker is bound to the discipline of the party.
Your party MPs, like Sakshi Maharaj and Yogi Adityanath, issue statements that are highly objectionable and communal in nature. Will this not derail your development agenda and lead to polarisation?
The party wants to focus on development and the party president as well as Prime Minister have asked every MP to talk about the achievements of two years of the Modi government which outweigh 60 years of Congress rule. If the MPs talk of anything else other than this, then it is in their personal capacity.
