Yogi Adityanath Interview Highlights | Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is speaking exclusively to Network18's Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi. The interview comes hours after Adityanath filed his nomination papers to contest from the Gorakhpur Urban constituency.
This is the first time when Adityanath, a five-time former MP, is contesting the assembly elections. He was earlier elected as the lawmaker from the Lok Sabha seat of Gorakhpur in the 1998, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014 general elections.
The saffron-robed politician, who is also the head priest of Gorakhnath Math in Gorakhpur, will remain the chief minister if the BJP retains power, the party has already announced.
Adityanath, known for his firebrand rhetoric, has been leading the party's campaign in Uttar Pradesh along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Since the electioneering phase began, however, Adityanath has ran into controversies with some of his statements that drew ire from the Opposition ranks.
The "80 versus 20" remark has drawn the accusation of communalism. Adityanath, however, has claimed that his remark does not target any community but states that 80 percent of the people will support him and 20 percent will oppose him.
The chief minister has maintained that the BJP is contesting on the poll plank of development, improved law and order, good governance and nationalism.
The Adityanath-led BJP, according to experts, is primarily challenged in this election by the erstwhile ruling Samajwadi Party which has formed a broad coalition with a number of regional parties.
Notably, the polls are scheduled to begin in Uttar Pradesh from February 10, and will be held in seven phases till March 7. The results will be declared on March 10 by the Election Commission of India.
The live blog session has concluded. For more news, views and updates, stay tuned with Moneycontrol.com.
The converation of Yogi Adityanath with Network18's Rahul Joshi has concluded. The UP chief minister spoke on an array of topics, ranging from his equation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, relation with the Muslim community and the number of seats he expects the BJP to win in the UP assembly elections. Hereare the complete highlights from the interview.
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Sharing his views on BJP veteranAmit Shah, Adityanath said,"People have acknowledged his achievements as UP incharge. He interacted with workers at booth level. We have seen closely his work in 2014, 2017 and 2019."
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On his chemistry with PM Modi, Yogi Adityanath said,"Modi ji is country's leaders and his patronage as PM is available. There is no point of disagreement. Whatever has been done has been achieved under his patronage."
"Every Indian acknowledges that India will become a global leader under PM Modi's leadership," he added.
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Listing out the development projects initiated and executed by his government, Yogi Adityanath said there were 12 medical colleges built in UP in 70 years. But 33 were developed in our government, andwork on another 17 colleges is underway, he added. "UP is going to be first state with five airports," he further said.
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"Look at the tickets distribution of the BJP and compare it with other parties.SP, BSP and other parties have given tickets to history sheeters," he said.
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On repeated reference to the criminal cases against Azam Khan, Atique Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari, Yogi Adityanath said, "When professional criminals are from the same community, where do you get criminals from. The government is committed to act against criminals. That is what we did," he said, adding that this should not be viewed from the prism of religion.
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"There is a match fixing between the SP and Congress. That is why the Congress doesn't field candidates against Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav," the chief minister said.
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On farm bill impact on west UP, Adityanath said,"There was no impact of farmers' agitation in UP. Farmers from UP had supported the Bills. But we do not know why they joined protest later."
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On Chaudhary Charan Singh's legacy, Adityanath said, "He was a big farmer leader. We respect him. No one did what he did in western UP. But if Jayant had taken forward his grand father's legacy, things would have been better. You cannot compare the two."
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On Amit Shah's invite to RLD chief Jayant Chauhdary, Adityanath said,"Amit Shah is Home Minister of the country and BJP's former president. He spoke of Jayant's benefit. Jayant ji took it wrong. Every one knows, he (Jayant) doesn't move out of Delhi. Where was he when people were dying in Muzaffarnagar riots?"
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"Every memberof the BJP is a face for us. Bhupinder Yadav, Keshav Prasad Maurya, Dinesh Sharma, Jai Prakash Nishad, there is a long list. All of them are faces. All these people are working on merit.But people who still believe in dynastic politics feel bad," Adityanath said. "We have people from all sections, Rama Shankar Patel, is from backward caste and is a minister in our government," he added.
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On Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav joining the BJP, Adityanath said, "Many people have left SP and joined us. These are the people who thought the system there was wrong."
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"An enlightened society will not accept shooting Ram bhakts.An enlightened society will not accept the rioting mentality," Adityanath said.
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"No one in UP will forget Kairana exodus," Yogi Adityanath said. "Jat vote is part of 80 per cent that will support BJP," he added.
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"The alliance in 2019 was bigger than the alliance in 2022. That time also people had different predictions. But reality is BJP won 64 seats in 2019. BSP got 10 and SP was on third position. All these parties were united then and now. It will not make any difference. The election has moved beyond alliances now. Let the first phase election be over, you will see tsunami of support for BJP," the chief minister said.
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"Secularism doesnt mean anti-Hindu, secularism does not mean appeasement," he said. "We are against appeasement politics," Adityanath added.
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"How many houses did poor get in SP government, 18,000. And in BJP's double engine govt, more than 33.5 lakh houses were built for all sections of society, including Muslims," Adityanath said.
"But there will be no appeasement.We will run administration based on the Constitution," he said.
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On his relation with Muslims, Adityanath said,"My relation with Muslims is what their relation is with me. We have a Muslim minister (Mohsin Raza) in cabinet, we have a Muslim minister in Union government (Mukhtar Naqvi). Arif Mohd Khan is governor of Kerala. We are not against any community. But people who are against India, we are against them. If any one has practices Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas after independence, it is the BJP".
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"They may be called Samajwadi's but they are parivarwadis (dynasts), do you expect any welfare of OBCs from them,"Yogi Adityanath said, taking a swipe at BJP turncoat Swami Prasad Maurya, who joined the SP last month.
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On being asked whether Owaisi can influence Muslim voters, Adityanath said, "Owaisi is a leader of his party. Every leader of a party is big."
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On the attack at the convoy of AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, Yogi Adityanath said,"We are in a democracy. We believe in ballot not bullet. Any such incident (attack on Owaisi) is unacceptable. We may differ ideologically. No one will be allowed to do that. I also appeal to political parties, be careful while speaking from the stage. Do not try to hurt religious sentiments by your speeches."
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Y"Didn't you see how Congress' former President criticised Kashmir policy. Only Pakistan criticised Centre's Kashmir policy. Rahul Gandhi speaks Pakistan's language. Public will not accept it, neither will BJP," Yogi Adityanath said.
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SP, BSP and Congress want the period ofriots, exodus to return, Adityanath said."They like vote banks. That is their priority," he added.
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Explaining his 80-20 remark, Adityanath said "the 80 percent includes all citizens whoprefer safety,development and welfare schemes. Theywill support BJP". The 20 percent, on the other hand, stood forrioters and those opposed to safety of women and traders, he said.
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"The election results will be 80-20. 80 percent for the BJP and 20 percent for others. People who felt development works closely of double engine government and appreciate it. There are those people who have seen welfare of the poor and want to continue it," the UP chief minister said.
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"Things have changed in last five years. Youths are getting jobs. Farmer welfare schemes have been launched. Lakhs of hectares of land had been irrigated. Farmers are getting one and a half times MSP. Women security has improved. Double engine government has worked for every section. Under these circumstances. There should be no doubt that the BJP will get more than 300 seats," Adityanath said.
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On opinion polls predicting less than 300 seats for theBJP, Adityanath said, "Do you remember in 2014, people had highlighted
bhai-behan ki party (Congress), what happened to the other party (Samajwadi Party), which was reduced to five seats. Two brothers (Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav) came in 2017 and we know what happened to them. There was a mahagathbandhan in 2019, what happened to them? BJP was first to get 64 seats, BSP got 10, SP got five and Congress got even lesser. Look at the opinion polls and surveys in all three elections and the trend in elections. Modi’s popularity has increased."Yogi Adityanath Interview LIVE Updates |
"Modi ji has earned trust of a common man. That trust is seen by BJP in support it enjoys. In last five years, whatever we did in UP was because of the leadership and patronage of PM Modi. We hope the double engine government will come to power again. And BJP will get 300 + seats," Adityanath said.
In the last assembly elections, the BJP had won 312 out of the 403 assembly seats of the state.
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On the 2017 clean sweep, the chief minister said,"There is people’s trust in democracy. This is an achievement for any leader. There is no doubt in the trust people had bestowed in 2014 (general elections), 2017 (UP) and 2019 (general elections) is unprecedented since independence. This was not on issues, but on schemes and policies."
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On being asked why he was given the ticket from Gorakhpur instead of Ayodhya, Adityanath said, "Gorakhpur, or the state is not unfamiliar to me. Our party is a democratic party. I am thankful to the party to nominate me from the seat."
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The Uttar Pradesh chief minister has begun his interview with Network18's Rahul Joshi. Stay tuned here for the live updates.
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Adityanath, over the past week, has been leading the BJP's campaign trail in western Uttar Pradesh where the party is, according to experts, primiarily challenged by the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) combine. For what YogiAdityanathhas to say on the political challenge in western UP, along with other election issues, stay tuned here for the interview with Network18 that will begin shortly.
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This marks the first assembly elections in which Yogi Adityanath is among the fray of candidates. The 5-time former MP was in 2017 elected as a member of legislative council, after being appointed as the chief minister. In this elections, however, the BJP has decided to field him from his home turf of Gorakhpur.
Stay tuned for the live updates from his exclusive conversation with Network18 that will begin shortly.
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The chief minister's conversation with Network18 comes days before the start of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, with the state's communally sensitive western region first to go to pollson February 10.
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Hours after filing his nomination, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Yogi Adityanath is speaking exclusively to Network18's Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi. Stay tuned here for the live updates from the interview that will begin shortly.
