If not for PM, BJP would be wiped out: Akshilesh Yadav

LUCKNOW: The hurly burly of campaigning is over.Akhilesh Yadav -he has addressed almost seven rallies a day over a month -sits down for a quiet lunch on Tuesday with wife Dimple.

If not for the PM's presence in Varanasi, BJP would have been washed out completely , he tells TOI. “People voting in the last phase are upset with BJP . Had they not pushed the PM to the campaign's forefront, BJP would be wiped out in the face of our good work.Central ministers camped in Varanasi...“

A day before the “battle of Banaras“ -PM's constituency Varanasi polls on Wednesday -Akhilesh and Dimple look composed in the CM's Kalidas Marg residence. Signs of a hard campaign regime are evident on their faces but they talk excitedly .

“This probably is the first election in UP fought on a positive note. People voted for development. This is my biggest achievement,“ says Akhilesh, who wants to put behind the stormy days ahead of the election. “That one week was difficult. But things settled down,“ says Dimple, asked how she weathered the storm that hit the family late last year.

Akhilesh intervenes, “yeh sab ab khatam ho gaya hai“ (it's over) and narrates a story.“Once Vivekananda asked Ramakrishna to show him god, Ramakrishna pinched him hard and asked, did you `see' the pain? You feel pain, you can't explain or share it,“ he says. It's the campaign that excites the couple. “He'd ask me to talk about his schemes.The Bhojpuri lines I spoke in Azamgarh were suggested by a team member. It clicked,“ she says. It's work he loves to talk about too.

“You asked me how I prepared for the polls. The work I did for UP was my prepara tion. Tabhi maine kaha, kaam bolta hai.“ He says involving Dimple was a strategic decision. “We didn't have much time. Getting the cycle symbol and stitching together the coalition took time. I couldn't visit many places, Dimple filled in for me,“ he says.

When TOI asks him why he did not take these steps earlier, he says: “Everything depends on time and situation. In politics, you can plan your work but not the circumstances.When it was time, the circumstances arose. What can be done?“ Three days ahead of the results, Akhilesh says he has no regrets. “I've worked very hard and done my best.If I win, I'll work harder and raise my bar higher.“