‘I’m A BJP Supporter But Don’t Want Yogi To Be CM Again’

Rahul Jaiswal, 30, from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh, says he will not vote for BJP this time as Chief Minister Yogi promotes negativity among polity

I am an ardent supporter of Bharatiya Janata Party. If you follow Uttar Pradesh politics closely, my surname is enough for you to presume my political leaning. The entire Jaiswal community in the state forms the core BJP support base and my ideology is no different from the community. For as long as I can recall, I have been voting in favour of the BJP –Assembly elections, Lok Sabha elections, or local body elections.

But this time, I am not rooting for the party. Well, I am not voting for Yogi ji specifically. He’s the Chief Ministerial face of the BJP and if the party wins, he will be the in-charge of Uttar Pradesh again. I don’t support his brand of politics and way of governance.

Yogi is very short-sighted in his approach. His vision is myopic and devoid of any fruitful outcome. If you look at his major decisions in the past, you can see he has failed to provide a single positive result to the masses.

All those things which he is recognised with – bulldozer, police raj, and fake encounters – are related with destruction, negativity and profiling. Even his laws for the safety of cows couldn’t yield a positive outcome; the stray cattle have turned into a menace now.

I want to make it clear that I want all the things that Yogi ji proclaims to achieve. I want the land mafia raj to end. I want my state to be crime-free. I want cows to be protected. But, the way these targets have been sought to achieve by the chief minister has brought about more devastation than progress.

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He brought the protection law for cows and I thank him from the bottom of my heart for this. But I want to know where are sheds for abandoned cows! I want to know why this state still has one of the highest crime rates in the country! After killing criminals, why are police now targeting innocent people? We saw what happened in Gorakhpur when police killed an innocent businessman and labeled him a criminal.

The state has become a laughing stock nationally. All those grievances which we had against other parties in the UP are now laid at the doors of the BJP. It has acquired all the shortcomings of other parties and is no different from them any longer. Probably, Yogi ji thinks that his voter base doesn’t see or hear things and is blinded by the love for the party.

I don’t know whether the situation in Uttar Pradesh will improve if Samajwadi Party comes to power. Currently, I am looking at the present and the scenario looks bleak. I think UP needs change for now. No political party or leader should feel complacent. Political leaders must know that the ultimate power rests in the hands of us the people.

As told to Md Tausif Alam