UP Elections 2017 | People of India don’t take Rahul seriously: Uma Bharti

In the run-up to the third phase of polling for the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Kartikeya Sharma spoke to Union Minister for Water Affairs Uma Bharti about various issues concerning her party. Edited exceprts from the interview.

Uttar Pradesh has given a Prime Minister to both the BJP and Congress, but the BJP in this election has failed to nominate a face for the chief minister’s position. Why?

We didn’t give a face in 1991 but came to power in UP. We also didn’t give a face in Haryana and Khattar became the chief minister. This was part of our strategy. We weren’t short of faces, but decided to do so because of certain reasons.

Why should the BJP be voted to power?

The BJP is the only party that has commitment towards work and the nation. We have thought and an ideology and that is why we should be voted to power.

The PM is being called an outsider by the SP and Congress in the UP elections...

That shouldn’t be said at all. Sonia Gandhi herself is from Italy, so the Congress doesn’t deserve the right to say anything on this matter. Have they gone into a coma and forgotten that their mother comes from Italy? UP accepted her and the people of Raebareli give them lots of votes. Has this been forgotten?

Is the Congress-SP alliance a formidable combination?

No, it is not a formidable combination. It is the other way round. Two things have hurt Akhilesh Yadav. The first was the expulsion of Mulayum Singh from the party, and let me emphasise the second point, which is that the people of India do not take Rahul Gandhi seriously and anyone who stands beside Rahul Gandhi will also be taken lightly.

Why isn’t Rahul Gandhi taken seriously?

It is because of the things he says and the things he does. Tearing up Manmohan Singh’s Cabinet decision is one example. He was your Prime Minister. He should have spoken to the Prime Minister in private if he felt strongly that the decision was wrong. Talking about a factory for potatoes, or sleeping in Parliament, or talking about things which don’t make sense, or boycotting the Parliament when an answer is available have all led to his stature diminishing. Despite the fact that Sonia Gandhi is from Italy, she is taken more seriously. She comes across as a serious person, but in Rahul Gandhi’s case, whoever stands next to him will come across as a political lightweight.