Departments like the Enforcement Directorate and CBI are not needed and should be shut down, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has said, adding that he would propose the same to the INDIA bloc. “CBI aur ED band hone chahiye (The CBI and ED should be shut). If you have cheated, there is the Income Tax department to deal with it. Why do you need the CBI? Every state has an Anti-Corruption Department, use it if needed,” Akhilesh said in an interview to The Indian Express, adding that the agencies are being used only against political adversaries of the BJP. “They are used agar sarkar banaani hai, ya giraani hai (to form governments, or break governments),” Akhilesh said, asking why hadn’t the agencies, for example, investigated “what went wrong during demonetisation”. “How did people convert their black money into white?” But would an INDIA government be ready to take such a far-reaching step if it came to power? “This is my proposal and I will put this before the INDIA alliance,” Akhilesh said. Speaking to The Indian Express while travelling from Lucknow to Amethi and Rae Bareli, the two constituencies with the highest stakes for the Congress, the SP chief said the alliance between the two parties will continue even after the Lok Sabha elections are over, irrespective of the results. “Alliance chalega, chalayenge (will continue, we will ensure it continues). And it will be there for whichever election comes… But for the moment, our effort is to form the (national) government,” Akhilesh said. The SP chief campaigned for the Congress in the two seats in the final run-up, with Rahul Gandhi the party candidate from Rae Bareli. Asked if the partnership would survive another poor performance by the Congress, such as a repeat of 2019’s 1 seat in UP and 51 overall, Akhilesh said firmly, “Yes.” Of course, every election throws up a new situation, he added, “but our effort will be that the gathbandhan remains”. The INDIA alliance at the national level will also continue, the former UP chief minister asserted. The Amethi and Rae Bareli rallies at least seemed a confirmation of Akhilesh’s faith in the alliance. As he and Rahul held joint meetings, the impressive crowds applauded, roared, waved after every punch line. There seemed to be a better relationship between the workers of the two parties on the ground as well, than in the earlier elections when they had forged an alliance, with significant presence of SP workers. Functionaries of both parties even synchronised the landing of the helicopters of Akhilesh and Rahul so that they arrived at the meeting together. The Yadavs, an SP vote bank, number 3.5 lakh in each constituency, Akhilesh said, and without their help, it might have been tough going for the Congress. Four out of the five Assembly segments falling under the Rae Bareli seat were won by the SP in 2019, though one of them, Manoj Pandey, was wooed away by the BJP. In fact, the same day as Rahul and Akhilesh addressed a joint rally in Rae Bareli, Union Home Minister Amit Shah welcomed Pandey, the MLA from Unchahar, into the BJP at a meeting in the constituency. Did Akhilesh see a difference between the last four elections in UP – the 2017 Assembly polls, when the SP had an alliance with the Congress; 2019 Lok Sabha elections, when it forged a tie-up with the BSP and had a limited understanding with the Congress; 2022 Assembly polls, when it tied up with smaller OBC parties; and now, when it has realigned with the Congress? “This time you can sense a current in these meetings which was not quite there the last few times,” Akhilesh said. According to him, the “game changer” was “the PDA (Pichada, Dalit and Alpsankhyak) vote” the SP has been trying to win over. He finds the Congress on the same page, he added. While traditionally the Congress’s vote bank has comprised the upper castes, Dalits and Muslims, Akhilesh said there was “a big change” with the party now demanding a caste census and social justice. However, he admitted, “It will depend on how the Congress handles the issue – whether it can win the confidence of the OBCs.” So is it Rahul driving the change in the Congress? “It’s the Congress’s strategy,” answered Akhilesh. With parties like the SP having grown at the expense of the Congress in nurturing an OBC base, could that not end up hurting them? “Koi darr nahin,” Akhilesh smiled, “Jo darr gaya woh mar gaya (There is no fear at all… One who is afraid, loses).” On Mamata Banerjee’s offer of “outside support” to the INDIA bloc if it is in a position to form the government, which she later amended to say she was very much a part of the alliance, Akhilesh said: “There were some dooriyan (differences), but she will want an INDIA government.” So will the SP support an INDIA government from inside or outside? “Andar, bahar (Inside, or outside), we will decide after the Lok Sabha elections. Par sarkar banayenge (But we will form the government). Our strategy can be anything.” On NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Sharad Pawar’s statement, in an interview to The Indian Express, that the regional parties will come closer to the Congress in the coming months and some may even merge with the Congress, Akhilesh said: “The regional parties will remain strong and give himmat (strength) to the Congress.” “Whenever the Congress was weak, we stood with them… Hamein toh ladhna hee hai, paas rakho ya door rakho (We have to fight, whether you keep us close or far). After (JD-U supremo) Nitish Kumar left the INDIA alliance to go with the BJP, I immediately announced the seat-sharing with the Congress, and saved the alliance; other tie-ups followed.” What about the possibility of some regional parties merging with the Congress? “That Sharad Pawarji will tell you,” Akhilesh said, avoiding a direct answer. Then he added: “The Samajwadi Party will never merge. Even in Amethi, is there a contest without the SP? Par ek aur ek gyarah ho gaye, aur BJP ho jayegi nau doh gyarah (But together we are 1+1 11, and the BJP will be 0)!” Could regional parties come together to form a third front then? “You never know what will happen,” Akhilesh said. “The anti-BJP and anti-Congress space in our politics will remain.” The SP itself has tried widening its base beyond MY (Muslim-Yadav) to rope in other OBCs, who have been alienated from the party due to increasing Yadav assertiveness. This time, only five SP Lok Sabha tickets have gone to Yadavs and 4 to Muslims, with as many as two dozen going to non-Yadav OBCs, many of them from Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs) who are leaderless. (They are also being wooed by the BJP, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of late referring to himself as an EBC PM.) There is a growing feeling in UP that the Dalits too are ready to turn away from the BSP, which is seen as a shrinking force in UP. Akhilesh said this shift will be visible in the results, with the Dalits coming towards the INDIA alliance out of fear that the BJP will “change the Constitution” and “do away with reservations”. “Amit Shah once said that the BJP had won because of social engineering. We are also doing social engineering,” he added. To the PM’s repeated attacks against the Opposition of encouraging “parivarwad (nepotism)” – five members of the Mulayam Singh Yadav family are contesting the Lok Sabha elections from UP – Akhilesh said: “The Election Commission does not stop anyone from standing for elections. Then, it is up to the Janata Adalat (people’s court) to decide whom they want to elect.” Family members of many BJP leaders too are contesting, the SP chief pointed out, adding: “And why don’t they talk about the Parivar – the Sangh Parivar – that which spreads hatred against Muslims? It is dangerous.” How does he see the future? Akhilesh laughed: “I will rest under a tree, bahut mehnat kee hai (have worked a lot).” On a more serious note, he added: “I would like to form a government in UP once more. If we can change UP, it will be an example for the country.” People have become tired of the “ghise-pitte (old, tired)” formulations of PM Modi, he said. “They now want change.”
