UP polls: 'Leave Akhilesh Yadav, most mainstream leaders don't trust Constitution'

Counterview Desk
Rajesh Kumar, a young journalist affiliated with Zee TV, interviews Dr Prem Singh, former President of the Socialist Party (India), a small party known to be taking up people's issues currently led by Gandhian scholar-activist and Magsaysay award winner Prof Sandeep Pandey, on Uttar Pradesh elections.
Calling him a prolific and multidisciplinary writer, Dr Singh tells the interviewer that while the Samajwadi Party is better placed, opposition votes may face division.

Text:

Question: The campaigning for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections has started in full swing. Whose do you think is likely to win?
Answer: On one side there is ruling BJP and on the other side there are three major opposition parties – BSP, SP and Congress. Obviously, the vote of the opposition will be divided. The SP has formed an alliance of some smaller parties. So, it seems to have an edge. But this edge is in the realm of the opposition. For an edge over the BJP, the support of either the BSP or the Congress will be necessary in one form or the other.
Question: But it doesn't seem possible. In the last assembly and Lok Sabha elections, SP's alliance with BSP and Congress has broken.
Answer: As it is being said, if the UP elections will decide the outcome of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, then the opposition in UP will have to act very responsibly and seriously. The opposition should be accountable to the citizens who have faith in the Constitution and its institutions. There should be at least enough understanding among the opposition that in case the BJP does not get a majority, it cannot snatch the MLAs of the opposition by the way of horse-trading, and a coalition government of the opposition should be formed.
Question: What do you want?
Answer: According to the conversation I have had with some concerned citizens here in Lucknow, the Congress and the communist parties should look into the ground reality. At present, the SP-RLD alliance seems to be in the strongest position with some smaller parties. There are seven members in the Congress Legislative Assembly. Apart from these, it should contest elections only on the seats where it stood second in the 2017 assembly elections. It can do this by staying with the SP-RLD alliance, even outside it. Otherwise, it will invite the defeat of the opposition like in Bihar. In Bihar, it brought defeat by staying inside the Grand Alliance, here it can be the reason for the defeat of the opposition staying outside. Communist parties should go to the polls with SP-RLD alliance on minimum seats. They should stay together with the alliance even if they don't contest elections. In my opinion, it would be better if there is a grand alliance of opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh against the BJP-led NDA.
Question: Will the Dalit community of Uttar Pradesh continue to vote as before or will there be any change in their voting pattern?
Answer: Election experts/psephologists can talk about this. After this you will also ask questions about Muslim voters. I want, though it is a hoax, people of all castes and religions should vote as Indian citizens. That is, vote with the understanding that the anti-constitutional politics of corporate-communal nexus has to be defeated.
Question: The situation has changed in western Uttar Pradesh after the farmers' movement. Here an outrage has emerged against the Centre and the BJP, which is visible. How much impact will this have on the election and how much will the Jayant-Akhilesh duo be able to cash in?
Answer: The BJP has been doing a hard work in western Uttar Pradesh since the time of the farmers' movement. Now there it seems that RLD has come into the fight. The reason for this change is the death of Chaudhary Ajit Singh and the clear and strong role of Rakesh Tikait in the later phase of the farmers' movement. I think the BJP will try to compensate loss of western Uttar Pradesh in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Question: The picture of Akhilesh Yadav with Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh is covered in the media. It is believed that the alliance between SP and AAP has been agreed, how do you see it?
Answer: AAP should have an alliance with the BJP and not the SP. The Aam Aadmi Party is a natural ally of the RSS/BJP in the campaign that is being created to create a mixture of Corporation India and Hindu-Rashtra. Rather, it is deepening the communalization of politics to make its future.
Question: The distance between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Samajwadi Party at the level of ideology, can it harm Akhilesh Yadav in the election?
Answer: If ideology is meant for the ideology of the Constitution of India, then leave Akhilesh Yadav, most of the leaders of the mainstream politics do not have faith in it. In the politics of India, the Constitution has become a totem. If this was not the case then it would not have been possible for leaders to boast and claim credit for development citing construction of the Central Vista or the new international airports as illustration of their achievement. They, while doing this, conveniently side line the unmeasurable gap of economic disparity, the uncountable number of unemployed, the innumerable plight of the working people and so on. Well, leave ideology, if Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhary have even the slightest knowledge of practical politics, then they will not let Aam Aadmi Party to tag along with them.
Question: What should be the role of socialist and secular minded organizations and civil society activists in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections?
Answer: If they do not play any role in any election, not only in Uttar Pradesh, then the opposition will be helped.
Question: What will be the role of Socialist Party (India) in UP elections?
Answer: As you know, I am not active in the party.
Question: In the end, what is your message for voters in Uttar Pradesh elections?
Answer: I do not consider myself to send a message. However, I would like to tell the leaders of both in power and in opposition that instead of making claims of opening new airports, smart cities, global cities, hospitals, medical colleges, universities, expressways, whatever has been built should be made functional in a smooth and effective manner. If this much is done then the sufferings of the common people will definitely be less.

Comments

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra* It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.

Sardar Patel was on Nathuram Godse's hit list: Noted Marathi writer Sadanand More

Sadanand More (right) By A Representative In a surprise revelation, well-known Gujarati journalist Hari Desai has claimed that Nathuram Godse did not just kill Mahatma Gandhi, but also intended to kill Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Citing a voluminous book authored by Sadanand More, “Lokmanya to Mahatma”, Volume II, translated from Marathi into English last year, Desai says, nowadays, there is a lot of talk about conspiracy to kill Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, but little is known about how the Sardar was also targeted.

Weaponizing faith? 'I Love Muhammad' and the politics of manufactured riots

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* A disturbing new pattern of communal violence has emerged in several north Indian cities: attacks on Muslims during the “I Love Muhammad” processions held to mark Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad. This adds to the grim catalogue of Modi-era violence against Muslims, alongside cow vigilantism, so-called “love jihad” campaigns, attacks for not chanting “Jai Shri Ram,” and assaults during religious festivals.

Counterview

Search This Blog