‘We joined Samajwadi Party for being a party of the ideology of Ram Manohar Lohia, not Periyar’: Ex-SP chief whip

You have been associated with the SP for so long, you also served as a minister in the party government. Why choose the BJP now?

I joined the SP after being associated with Netaji (late SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav). You ask me what went wrong… it is the party established by Netaji which is now sidelining the people who stood by him. Instead, people who have no ground or base and failed to get even a decent vote share for the party in their respective areas are being given importance.

I am Ph.D in Political Science from BHU. I have studied (Ram Manohar) Lohia and know that the basic mantra of the Samajwadi ideology is respect for all castes, religions and sects. It never differentiated in the name of religion or caste.

However, today, in a country like India with 135 crore population, out of which over 90 crore follow Sanatan Dharma or are Hindu, a person who lost the Vidhan Sabha election by over 50,000 votes (Swami Prasad Maurya, who has also resigned from the SP) continuously attacked Hindu gods and goddesses, Sanatan Dharma, a particular caste – at party fora, in the Vidhan Sabha. He did all this while in the party.

On the other hand, see my statements. I always said that be it Hindu or any other religion, no one has the right to make objectionable statements against any religion. I raised it at the party fora. I also took up the issue with the top leadership of the party, not just once but many times… The national president (Akhilesh Yadav) gave me time and even called me for a dinner to Saifai, where a long discussion took place. But nothing happened.

So you did not get adequate response from the party’s leadership to your objections?

Ignore kiya gaya (I was ignored). How is it possible that the party leadership asks someone to do something, and they go against it and no action is taken? There is a provision to give a notice and even expel in such a scenario under rules of the SP.

… But the bigger question is that ever since that person (Maurya) registered his own party on February 19 and held a rally in Delhi on February 22, has he spoken against Sanatan Dharma or against Hindus? A person who used to speak against Durgaji, Laxmiji, Hanumanji, Hindus, Sanatan Dhamra and even Brahmins, has not spoken a word since them.

I have a count of his statements against Sanatan Dharma and Brahmins while being in the SP – 87. He had come to destroy the party, and did his job.

But Swami Prasad Maurya also pointed fingers at you as he left the SP?

Swami hamare liye koi vyaktigat issue nahin rahe (Swami has never been a personal issue for me), instead it is a political issue. My fight with him is of ideas. I come from a Savarna (upper caste) family, but no one can point a finger at me that I have ever disrespected anyone. In 2004, I installed a statue of Sardar (Vallabhbhai) Patel at Raebareli, later a statue of Jhalkari Bai. I fought for the rights of the people who sell milk, and cases were registered against me.

Ek Swami Prasad Maurya se lara ja sakta hai. Jis dal mein BSP se aye do darzan se zyada Swami Prasad paida ho jayen, aur saarvajanik roop se Hindu devi-devtaon ko gaali dein, kisi jaat ko gaali dein, yeh humein sweekar nahin hai (One can fight one Swami Prasad. But if in a party, over two dozen Swami Prasads who have come from the BSP take root, and abuse Hindu gods and goddesses publicly, or a caste, one can’t tolerate this).

Akhilesh Yadav has said that SP leaders who cross-voted did it either under pressure or were lured with offers.

During my over 31 years as an active leader, I have seen power just twice, i.e. from 2004 to 2007 and then from 2012 to 2017. For the rest of the time, I have been in the Opposition, in the good as well as the bad days of the party. It is not that I was not lured by other parties to join them, but I remained in the party. Anyone can make allegations and counter-allegations in politics, but facts speak otherwise.

There was a time, 25 years back, when I had complained to Netaji that the district unit was troubling me saying a Brahmin had come and was talking about doing shudhi (purification) of the party office, Netaji stood with me, and expelled the entire unit. This was a party of that Mulayam Singh Yadav, who helped workers from the grass-roots to rise, and trusted them completely.

There is talk that you may contest from the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat for the BJP or accept a position in government?

It is too early to say; I am still an SP MLA. But I would say that the way the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister worked during the Covid pandemic and have ensured houses for the poor and toilets in villages, even being in the Opposition, these things attracted me. (And) While dharma is only an issue of faith for me, if someone abuses it, then it is not acceptable to us.

What would you say has changed in the SP, and what is forcing leaders to leave one after another?

I would just say that any individual, society or political party, if it deviates from the ideology with which it was established, then it becomes impossible to save that individual, family, society or political party. Ram Manohar Lohia had started a Ramayan Mela in Ayodhya, and the government gave funds for it too. What kind of an ideology is it that allows speaking against the Ramcharitra Manas? I wish to only say that we had had joined the SP for being a party of the ideology of Ram Manohar Lohia, and not Periyar (seen as the father of the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu and a sworn atheist).