People of UP are with Behenji: Ram Achal Rajbhar

Edited excerpts from an interview with Uttar Pradesh BSP president Ram Achal Rajbhar:

Who is your main opponent in UP?
No single party is our opponent. Each of them will have to face the BSP. This is because both the BJP and the SP will fight in a few seats but the BSP will fight in all the seats.

The BSP has given 100+ seats to Muslims but the SP claims to own the Muslim vote bank.
We will get a majority of minority votes. The people of the state have been let down by the SP not once, not twice, but several times, be it in providing protection, education or employment. It is during the SP rule that the state saw maximum atrocities against Muslims. Incidents from Faizabad to Moradabad are not lost on the community. Not a single communal riot happened under the BSP rule. The people of UP are remembering the BSP era. Agda, pichhda, sab Basapa ko yaad kar raha hai (Forwards as well as backwards are remembering the BSP rule). Naturally, they would give the BSP a chance.

Also Read: Can Mayawati's Muslim-Dalit focus make her the queen of UP

The BJP too is talking about sabka saath…
Yeh sab jumle-baazi hai (All this is talk). Muslims know that when the BJP is in power at the Centre or in the state or both, communal riots become rampant. The community has high hopes from the BSP. The BJP will have to do with minuscule votes of the community.

Many leaders have left the BSP.
Look at them today — what are they up to? All those who leave the BSP go into political oblivion. We keep hearing such talks that the party would be finished. Hum din dooni, raat chaugani tarakki kar rahe hai (We are making progress at a fast pace). The results will be there for all to see soon.

Also Read: Dalits of UP have an alternative in Republican Party of India, says Athawale

Recently RPI’s Athawale visited UP and claimed ownership of Dalit votes...
The same parties that reprimanded Babasaheb Ambedkar are today being forced to accept him... aaj voh baba saheb ki god mein baithane ko taiyar hai (today they are ready to sit in his lap)... be it Ram Vilas Paswan, Udit Raj or, for that matter, Athawale. Look at the recent atrocities against the Dalits. Did any of these so-called Dalit leaders have the guts to raise their voice? It was only Behenji who raised her voice against the atrocities in and outside Parliament. She took on PM Modi. Muslims too are aware of this reality.

Is it true that Behenji has promised to make a Muslim deputy CM, if elected?
In the Saharanpur rally held on September 10, Behenji made it clear that if in 2019 she gets a chance to move to national politics, only a Dalit will be made the CM of UP. Rest is speculation.