UP elections 2022: "Congress has focused on governance during campaign, formulated concrete plans of action"

Just back from campaigning in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad predicts a much-improved performance by the Congress in the state. A star campaigner of the party, she addressed rallies, corner meetings and took part in door-to-door campaigning.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has made a huge difference, she points out. Three separate manifestos for the state, 40 percent reservation for women in ticket distribution, the ‘Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon’ slogan have caught the imagination of not just women but of everyone in the state, she felt. Excerpts from her conversation with Rahi Bhide:

Even the PM appears to have made an election issue of migrant workers allegedly driven out of Maharashtra during the Covid crisis. Did you find any resonance during the campaign?

The Prime Minister as usual does not speak the whole truth. People of course migrated back home from Mumbai and Maharashtra. But we facilitated people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh with railway tickets, food packets and potable water. But in Uttar Pradesh itself, Yogi Adityanath’s government failed to provide them with even facilities for cremation, let alone medical facilities. Dead bodies were left on the street and dumped in the river. People go by their own experience, not by what the PM says.

Yogi Adityanath’s government claims to have worked for the development of the state and in the advertisements claimed UP to be no. 1. What is your impression after visiting the state?

Advertisements do not mean development. Barring the highways, not a single road in UP was in good condition. People in fact complained of having fewer or no employment opportunities, lack of good education and healthcare and even electricity. There can be no comparison with Maharashtra. Are people not migrating back to Maharashtra?

But Uttar Pradesh is also resource-rich, with plenty of water, irrigation, cattle and so on. So, why are people migrating from there?

Uttar Pradesh has minerals too and produces a lot of milk and agriculture produce like potatoes. There are other industries like glass etc. Abundant human resources are also available in the state. But industry based on minerals, agriculture produce and milk have not developed. Then there are other issues of education, security etc. which have not been addressed. Congress has raised these issues and explained what the party did when it was in power.

What was the focus of the Congress’ campaign?

Governance. Everything being the same, Congress when it was in power managed resources much better and it never wavered from keeping people at the centre of it. The number of educational institutions in UP by and large remains the same as during the Congress govt in the state. The party has deliberated on issues, formulated concrete plans of action and has told voters how it would address them.

Both Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi called on the family of the rape victim at Unnao? Did it have any impact?

Congress leaders had rushed to comfort the family and express its solidarity with the community. In another case in Unnao, the son of a SP leader was involved. Priyanka Gandhi went to meet the family. I was with her. Police were insisting that she had not been raped while the mother was firm that she was raped. The police wanted to cremate the body while the mother wanted it buried. Our intervention possibly helped. The body was later exhumed and the post-mortem proved she was raped.

Why are women in UP so unsafe?

Because of the feudal mindset, I guess, with upper caste men used to call the shots. This is the reason why Priyanka Ji has given priority to safety and empowerment of women. Development will take place only when people and women are safe and under a visionary, not feudal leadership.

(Translated from Marathi by Abhir More)

(This was first published in National Herald on Sunday)