If not for PM, BJP would have been wiped out: CM

The hurly burly of campaigning is over. Samajwadi Party chief and UP CM Akhilesh Yadav has just come back from Ambedkar Nagar after addressing a rally for the by-election to Alapur constituency be held on Thursday and has addressed a press conference in Lucknow. After days of hectic campaigning – addressing almost seven rallies a day over a month – Akhilesh settles for a quiet lunch on Tuesday with wife and Kannauj MP Dimple Yadav.
Lunch over, he tells TOI that if not for the Prime Minister’s presence in Varanasi, BJP would have been washed out completely. “People voting in the last phase are upset with BJP. PM itna prachar na karte toh BJP ka pata bhi nahi lagta. Agar PM ko aage na karte yeh, BJP poori nahi tik paati hamare kaam ke agge (Had they not pushed the Prime Minister to the forefront top campaign, BJP would have got wiped out in the face of the good work we have done).
“A number of central ministers are camping in Varanasi. Cycle ne aisa phansa dia hai sabko ki sanb yahin ghoom rahe hain,” he says.
A day before the “battle of Banaras” – with PM’s constituency Varanasi going to polls on Wednesday – Akhilesh and Dimple look composed, sitting in the CM’s official residence on Kalidas Marg. The signs of a hard campaign regime is evident on their faces but excitement can’t be missed as they talk of their campaign.
“This would probably be the first election in Uttar Pradesh that is being fought on a positive note. People have voted for development and this is my biggest achievement,” says Akhilesh.
But it’s the campaign that excites the couple. “He would tell me about his schemes and ask me to talk about them. The Bhojpuri lines I spoke in Azamgarh were suggestions from a member of our team there. It clicked,” she said.
“Mujhe ek apnapan mahsoos hua (I felt a rare warmth when I addressed rallies). Everybody knows I am not a good orator,” she laughs. Is Akhilesh a different man when he is out campaigning? “He is the same at home and outside, always talking about his work,” she adds.
It’s work that he loves to talk about too. “You asked me how I prepared for the elections. The work that I did for Uttar Pradesh was my preparation. Tabhi maine kaha, kaam bolta hai,” says Akhilesh.