Satish Mishra: ‘SCs and Brahmins with us… will form majority govt… Only the weak need alliances’

Not at all. We are fighting alone because we are strong. We had announced long ago that we won’t form any coalition this time. The SP is looking for borrowed people… it’s the same for the BJP. They have 10 contenders for each seat. That’s why they have not been able to announce any candidates. It’s the weak who need alliances.

You have been holding a series of outreach meetings focused on Brahmins. Is that part of your strategy to take on the BJP?

No one has been addressing the issues of the Brahmin community. What have they got in the last five years, except being targeted and killed in shootouts? More than 500 Brahmins have been killed, while another 100 have been killed in encounters. Did they vote for the BJP for this? Whereas, under our government, the community was happy. It is not enough for the BJP to take Lord Ram’s name. Even we do that. Everyone does. The BJP has been exposed. They see only one caste… The rest, like the Scheduled Castes, have been neglected. They are considered outcastes. Similarly, Brahmins are also neglected. Look at the Brahmin face of the government (Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma). Both he and the other Deputy CM (Keshav Prasad Maurya) from the backward community… they have been treated like flower vases.

In the last elections, the BSP’s formula was Brahmins, Dalits and Muslims. This time, your party’s outreach to the Muslim community has not been that much. Is it strategic?

See, Muslims have always been with the BSP. Under the Samajwadi Party government, 134 riots happened in UP. Under the BSP government, there was not even a single skirmish. Everyone was safe.

How is the BSP going to cope with the election moving into digital mode?

We have been active in the digital space for a while now. I held 96 rallies across the state last year, and all our rallies were broadcast live on Facebook and other mediums. Behenji’s programmes are also transmitted digitally, including on YouTube, Facebook, etc.

The BSP never releases a manifesto, but what are you telling the voters this time?

We will tell them what we did while we were in power last time (2007-2012). In 2007, after 17 years, a single-party majority government was formed in UP. And we did a lot – we built expressways, started the Lucknow Metro and we changed the face of Noida and Lucknow. We built more than half a dozen medical colleges, but not like the current government, which only converts government hospitals into medical colleges and claims it has built so many medical colleges… We created 23 new districts, and seven new zones in the state. All these will be reasons for the BSP to form the government.

Do you think invoking the past will impress the youth?

The youth are fed up with this government. Those with degrees are unemployed. This government says they should sell pakodas. Farmers were butchered. They were promised that their income would be doubled, but a policy was formed to take away their land. We have already engaged with 50 per cent of the youth. We will promote youth issues.

BSP chief Mayawati recently demanded a high-level probe into the PM’s security breach issue. Is the BSP not on the same page as other Opposition parties?

We are a principled party and we take a stand on issues inside and outside Parliament based on that. We don’t hold protests and block roads, or set fire to public properties.

A lot of BSP leaders have joined the SP…

If anyone opposes the party, be it MLAs, or anyone… we take action. We are a disciplined party.

What is your formula for the BSP to come back to power?

Our target is to win maximum seats and form the government with an absolute majority. In 2007, when we formed the government, we got 30 per cent of votes. In 2012, our vote share was 29 per cent. Once the 14-16 per cent Brahmins decide to come back to us, like in 2007, things will completely change… The BJP knows that Brahmins have gone to the BSP. The Scheduled Castes, who are 23 per cent, and Brahmins are with us… we are confident of forming the government. The SCs have seen how the girl’s body was burnt at 2 am in Hathras.