Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav spoke to Barkha Dutt on Mayawati and Amar Singh.
Highlights
- As state party chief, could have suggested Amar Singh's removal: Akhilesh
- Mayawati's memorials of corruption are still standing in UP, says the CM
- When Mr Yadav met PM he said he "could not wait till tea"
A relaxed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav drew laughter often from his audience today as he made multiple digs at "Uncle" Amar Singh and more than a few at "Bua (Aunt)" Mayawati, asserting that his Samajwadi Party is set to make a comeback in Uttar Pradesh where elections will be held in a few months from now. But he said, "I can't say if I will be the Chief Ministerial candidate." Mr Yadav was speaking to NDTV's Barkha Dutt at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
Here is what he said in 10 points:
The 43-year-old Chief Minister's top quotes were on politician Amar Singh, who he has accused of instigating a bitter family feud that saw his father and party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav pitched against him. "If I were state party chief, I could have made the suggestion," he said when asked if he would like Amar Singh out of their party.
While on Amar Singh and on his father's support to him, Mr Yadav also said, "Nobody can defy Netaji. But if someone gets a typewriter to remove me, to make me write a letter, I will not accept that."
Akhilesh Yadav said he did not see his party's chief rival Mayawati making a comeback in UP. "People had to leave their shoes outside when they came to meet her. Memorials of her corruption are still standing all over in Uttar Pradesh," he said.
On Prime Minister Narendra Modi's notes ban, the Chief Minister said, "In a democracy, if you impose anything, then people will not accept it." When he met the PM in parliament recently, pegged as a Chai Pe Charcha, Mr Yadav said he "could not wait till tea. I told him people are in pain. He said things will be alright, people should use technology."
The Samajwadi Party, Mr Yadav asserted, "can never have any relations with the BJP." If the Samajwadi Party came to power in UP again, he said, "it will be a warning sign for the BJP," adding, "the journey of national politics starts in Uttar Pradesh."
He had praise for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, calling him a "fast neta who has done good work for Delhi."
Akhilesh Yadav refused to dwell on his repeated run-ins with uncle Shivpal Yadav, in which his father and party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has invariably supported his uncle. "I am just focused, like (Mahabharat's) Arjun on forming government again in UP," he said.
He repeatedly asserted that he would do his father's bidding. But he also said, "All fathers want their sons to follow in their footsteps. The difference is that Netaji (Mulayam Singh) is a wrestler, I am a footballer."
On the possibility of a Grand Alliance of parties to take on the BJP as happened in Bihar last year, Akhilesh Yadav would only say that the dynamics in Bihar were very different from those in UP.
"It's when you are down that you find out who are truly with you. These lessons are priceless," said the Chief Minister, who has found himself frequently isolated in the last few months as the Samajwadi Party preps for the crucial UP elections.
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