LS polls: India will go back 15 years if BJP wins, says Dimple Yadav

Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav has said India will go back 15 years if the BJP wins the Lok Sabha polls, accusing the party of practising "divisive politics" to divert attention from real issues.

In an exclusive interview with PTI, Dimple Yadav, who is aiming to carry forward the legacy of her father-in-law and SP patriarch late Mulayam Singh Yadav by retaining the Mainpuri seat, asserted that the people are going to vote for change this time.

People have understood the 'bantware ki rajneeti' or divisive politics of the BJP. It creates differences between different sections of society and indulges in vote bank politics, she said.

"They incite people on caste lines, play with their sentiments and divert attention from core issues," Dimple Yadav, the wife of SP president Akhilesh Yadav, told PTI at her residence in Saifai village in Etawah district from where she has been handling her campaign for the last month.

During Dimple Yadav's filing of nomination papers from Mainpuri, a seat that she has been representing since 2022, the Yadav family unity was on display, as, besides Akhilesh Yadav, his uncles Ramgoapal Yadav and Shivpal Yadav accompanied her.

"People want change... they are voting for change this time. Due to the 'dabav ki rajneeti' (pressure politics) of the BJP, every section of society is fed up. The people are facing harassment at all levels," she said.

While the BJP government at the Centre is misusing institutions like the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation, and the Income Tax Department, at the district level in Uttar Pradesh, the administration harassing people, she alleged.

"Inflation is at its peak and the benefits of government schemes are not reaching the people. Only promises were made to the people but nothing was delivered on the ground," she added.

"People are seeing where they (BJP) are taking the country and everyone knows India's position in malnutrition and starvation in global rankings... If they (BJP) win, the country will go back 15 years," she said.

This election is to save the future of the country as the Constitution is under threat, she added.

Wearing a saree with its 'pallu' covering her head, Yadav lashed out at the BJP over the 'mangalsutra' remarks by its leaders.

"This is the only 'hathyar' (weapon) with them. Other important issues related to the people's future do not matter to the BJP," she said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's allegations that the Congress wanted to redistribute the wealth of the people to Muslims and that the opposition party won't even spare the 'mangalsutra' of women.

On the BJP's '400 paar' slogan, she said, "In UP also they are saying that they will win all 80 seats. They (BJP) are experts in lying. But people are understanding their lies and will give a befitting reply to them."

"They welcome the most corrupt people in their party.

The BJP is a dry cleaning machine that does everything for political gains," Yadav said while replying to a question on the BJP's charge of opposition parties encouraging "dynastic politics".

When asked about the late Mulayam Singh Yadav's winning margin getting reduced to 94,000 votes in the 2019 polls as compared to the huge margins in earlier elections, Yadav said every election is held under different circumstances.

"This time the people are voting to change the BJP government," Yadav, who would be facing BJP candidate and Uttar Pradesh minister Jaiveer Singh in Mainpuri, said.

About her campaigning and the response she is getting from people, Yadav said, "I attend eight to nine meetings in a day. Besides booth and sector-level workers, locals are also present and the response is very good for the INDIA bloc."

The SP and the Congress are a part of the opposition INDIA bloc and are fighting the Lok Sabha polls together in Uttar Pradesh.

Talking about her daughter Aditi Yadav, who is campaigning for the first time for her in Mainpuri, Yadav said, "She is excited. She is reaching out to people in villages and meeting them."

About the BJP's claim that she won the 2022 Mainpuri by-elections by a substantial margin of 2.8 lakh votes due to public sympathy over Mulayam Singh Yadav's death, she said, "You can gauge the mood of the people of Mainpuri. They are full of enthusiasm and we are going to win."

"The youth, those in the Army, women, and the elderly are all feeling demoralised as no promises made by the BJP were fulfilled," she added.

Mainpuri is going to polls on May 7 in the third phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.