Anupriya Patel at Idea Exchange: ‘We are allies in NDA and allies don’t need to bargain. The PM is there to listen to us’

First of all, I don’t think that setting ambitious targets of 400-plus seats is a wrong move by any party or alliance because big dreams fire up the grassroots cadres to work hard. Once you work hard, you get good outcomes, considering we were seeking a mandate the third time in a row. Of course, there is a lot of curiosity about the results in Uttar Pradesh (UP), which were not as per our expectations, considering the amount of work which both the Central and State governments (double engine ki sarkaar) did.

Development has always been our agenda and everything was moving smoothly till the Opposition parties came up with a fake narrative about the Constitution, targetting UP and Bihar as they have been nurseries of the social justice movement. They claimed that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) —where BJP is the biggest partner — would use a 400-plus majority in Parliament to amend the Constitution and scrap reservations. The marginalised communities fell prey to this misinformation and we could not counter it timely or effectively. That was why there was some resentment and fear, which converted seats in favour of the Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and the larger INDIA bloc.

Anupriya Patel, Apna Dal leader and MoS Health and family affairs. (Express photo by Renuka Puri)

Liz Mathew: As president of the Apna Dal, could you foresee this shift at any point of time during the campaign? Did your cadres sense anything?

We’re very small compared to the BJP. But we’re connected to the people at the grassroots. Somewhere during the third and fourth phase of the elections, our workers told us that people were buying into the plank of aarakshan (reservation) and Samvidhaan (Constitution). The feedback became stronger in the last stages of the campaign from all districts and seats.

Liz Mathew: Did you warn any senior BJP leader?

We tried to communicate but I guess the BJP did not understand that the undercurrent had become so strong.

Liz Mathew: You started electoral politics from Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency.  How did his margin of victory go down so drastically?

People don’t doubt the credibility of Narendra Modi as a leader. First, he was seeking a mandate for a record third term. Also, since Varanasi is in the eastern part of UP, the Opposition’s misinformation campaign affected voters there. There was nobody to convince the voter that the fears of amending the Constitution and scrapping quotas were irrational or that we could not do it. But the PM winning for the third time is no mean achievement.

Liz Mathew: Did the BJP bank too much on the Ram temple and Modi?

If you remember the election in 2014, PM Modi’s popularity was at its peak, which continued in 2019. The popularity of the topmost leader affects the fortunes of many candidates, evidenced by the huge margins with which they won in both these elections. Would you disagree with me that the popularity of the leader had a major role to play in these two mandates?

The BJP must already be analysing every seat — what went wrong, where? When things are not in your favour, sometimes you can’t withstand that pressure.

Manoj CG: Did the situation turn negative for the BJP in UP because of the Yogi government giving a free hand to bureaucrats and some administrative problems?

The BJP hasn’t shared its internal assessment report with me, I don’t know if it has with you. But yes, there was resentment among our grassroots workers as they had some local level run-ins daily with the administration and the police. They expected their grievances to be heard at that level.

Asad Rehman: In the run-up to the election, some BJP leaders had indeed spoken about a new Constitution if they won 400-plus seats. The then sitting Ayodhya MP spoke about it. Do you think that if a top BJP leader had countered that narrative, things could have been different later?

Some of our own people also contributed to this narrative, which is why it became so huge. We could have countered it at the right moment but we failed somewhere. That’s why the election slipped. There are intelligent people everywhere but some are so intelligent that they will damage the fortunes of the party. They don’t think before speaking.

Asad Rehman: The SP had fielded non-Yadav OBC candidates with seven of their Kurmi candidates winning in UP. Your party’s base is among the Kurmis. How will you take on the SP with so many Kurmi MPs in the Lok Sabha?

There was neither any attraction for the SP, nor has it done any wonders. It has merely benefitted from our mistakes. Wait for the next election, the voter will understand we worked in the interest of OBC communities, they won’t be confused.

Vikas Pathak: The Congress brought up the issue of reservation in the last six months of its campaign. Do you think that the advantage the BJP had in the last 10 years in terms of reaching out to OBCs, Dalits and tribals is being challenged?

First, I am very happy that the two big national parties, BJP and Congress, have realised that this country is very diverse and you have to cater to the expectations of this diverse society. There is a big section of the population, comprising Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SC/ST) and OBCs, who want their voices to be heard. So if you want to continue mainstream ideological politics, it is not going to work in this country.

As for the challenge to the BJP, I would say the marginalised sections are now more aware. No party can afford to pay lip service to them and has to do something concrete. Modiji addressed several issues that were pending in the Congress-led UPA regime, be it conferring constitutional status on the OBC commission or the OBC reservation in the NEET-PG issue. Today the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi cannot afford to just talk about caste census but take some concrete action on the ground. The BJP was able to get the support of this section because of action.

Shahid Pervez: A large section of Kurmis, whom you represent, has shifted to the INDIA bloc. Why?

Kurmis are OBCs. But it is the bigger chunk of SCs that has shifted to this bloc.

Kaunain Sheriff M: The NEET-UG exams are under shadow of paper leaks and the NEET-PG exams were cancelled last-minute in a knee-jerk reaction. What happened overnight in the health ministry because these are two different exams?

First, a revised schedule has already been announced for NEET PG, it will be conducted on August 11. The cancellation was just a precautionary measure considering the uproar over paper leaks in NEET-UG. We wanted to reassess the robustness of exam procedures being conducted by the National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences.

Kaunain Sheriff M: What was the reassessment? Did you find evidence of something on the dark net?

We just took precaution. Everything is in place and we have the revised schedule. No evidence, no bad news, nothing at all. The Prime Minister has said that the government is doing the needful on the floor of the House and we’ll make sure that whoever has been involved in any form of the alleged paper leak will not be spared. The matter is sub judice.

Kaunain Sheriff M: Your big promise before the elections was expanding the Ayushman Bharat for 70-plus citizens. Have you decided on the blueprint with the Budget coming up?

This was one of the Prime Minister’s biggest announcements. Everything is on track and we are just trying to work out the modalities of the scheme design, geriatric packages and IT platform-readiness. Once this whole ecosystem is ready, the scheme will be operationalised.

Kaunain Sheriff M: How do you visualise the health sector in NDA 3.0? When it comes to the Ayushman Bharat scheme, we discovered that 60-70 per cent of the funds were being utilised by the southern states. Despite the resources, bigger states like UP have not been able to utilise them. How will you resolve this North-South divide?

The North-South divide is not a feature of this government. And as far as the health sector is concerned, such differences were always there. The bigger agenda is a developed India by 2047. Every ministry has a 100-day agenda. As part of this, we have just started the National Quality Assurance System (NQAS) that will certify all public health facilities, right from a sub-centre to tertiary healthcare institutions.

For sub-centres, we are doing it virtually. We will be conducting physical assessment for health institutions like the common service centres (CSCs), primary health centres (PHCs) and district hospitals. Patna and Darbhanga in Bihar will get a new AIIMS (All-India Institute of Medical Science). Another initiative is developing a digital platform called U-WIN for the Universal Immunisation Programme. We’ve started a pilot to see how well it performs. We will have a digital record of the vaccinations for pregnant women and children. We are developing a digital platform for the National Health Claims Exchange.

Kaunain Sheriff M: Will you be able to achieve the elimination target for tuberculosis (TB) next year?

Since the Prime Minister’s clarion call to end TB, the National TB Elimination Programme has introduced comprehensive, patient-centric and novel strategies that have brought a paradigm shift in the way TB is prevented, detected and treated. India’s intensified case finding efforts have reduced the number of “missing” TB cases from one million or 10 lakhs in 2015 to nearly 2,00,000 in 2023.

India is one of the only countries in the world to have a universal social and nutritional support programme, Nikshay Poshan Yojana, for over a crore beneficiaries since April 2018. Our initiative on sub-national certification for TB-free status has proven critical in fostering a spirit of public health. The elimination strategies at the sub-district level aim to create TB-free panchayats, blocks and districts, which will ensure that states eventually become TB-free. The national programme is striving hard to achieve its goal of TB Mukt Bharat in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) .

Shiny Varghese: What is the government doing to improve rural health infrastructure and reduce spending on healthcare?

The Government is focussing attention on improving the rural health infrastructure across the country. Its flagship programme, Ayushman Bharat, comprises four inter-related pillars of Ayushman Arogya Mandir, Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) and Pradhan Mantri – Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PMABHIM). Through these, the government is working towards reducing out-of-pocket spending on healthcare.

We have now set up Ayushman Arogya Mandirs by transforming existing sub-health centres (SHCs) and primary health centres (PHCs) in rural and urban areas to deliver the expanded range of comprehensive primary healthcare services. These come as a package of 12 services that includes preventive, curative, palliative and rehabilitative services which are universal, free and closer to the community.

Other important initiatives are the Free Diagnostics Service Initiative and the Free Drugs Service Initiative under the National Health Mission (NHM).

We have built sub-centres under the Ayushman Bharat-Ayushman Arogya Mandir to facilitate universal access to basic diagnostic and treatment services with a focus on health prevention. We have established public health units at the block level, set up district integrated public health labs and critical care hospital blocks in all districts that have a population of more than five lakh.

Asad Rehman: You recently wrote a letter to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath about reserved and vacant seats going to general category candidates. Was that a reaction to the election results because such public communication hasn’t happened in the last five years between allies?

You can say such things if you want to spice up the matter but for me it is routine. My people approach me with their problems. So what is my duty as an ally of the ruling coalition and as a part of this government? I have to bring it to the notice of the Chief Minister and he has to take corrective action. Plain and simple.

Asad Rehman: Are you satisfied with the answer given by the Yogi government?

They keep giving answers. The primary responsibility is to look into the issue. If people are complaining, it is your responsibility to address the grievances. This is not the first time such an interaction is taking place? Please check the records of the SP when it was in government. Flagging concerns happens everywhere, even in autonomous institutions and universities. Today, we are in government. So if something is brought to my notice, I will apprise the chief minister, expecting him to correct anomalies. That’s his responsibility.

Aakash Joshi: Some years ago, the late Sharad Yadav was here describing the Janata Dal (United) alliance with the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP. He said one of the deals back then had been that the BJP’s core ideological issues — Ram Mandir, uniform civil code and Article 370 — would be kept aside for the sake of coalition politics. In its third term in governance, the BJP needs its allies. Will the ruling party be willing to compromise on some issues for the sake of the alliance?

I don’t know about the equation between the late Sharad Yadav and Vajpayeeji. I don’t know what transpired between the two of them. In so far as my alliance is concerned, this time the BJP has fewer seats and it is actually NDA, the coalition of allies, that collectively has the numbers. We are allies and allies don’t need to bargain. There are issues which are important to us and we go and talk to the PM. We have spoken earlier, too.

Modiji says he is available to all his allies for any issue that is of importance. This is not the time for any kind of lowly politics. This is the time to stand together with each other under his leadership and fulfil the promises that we made to the people prior to the elections. We have a big agenda and we stand united. Whatever issues we have, we will discuss them and sort them out with the PM.

Liz Mathew: In the last 10 years, the BJP had a brute majority and overshadowed everything. Now that the BJP is lacking that number, do you see any difference in its approach?

We are seeing a change in the way the PM talks. He doesn’t talk about the BJP. It’s NDA, he says.