BJP, candidate from Kanpur City Lok Sabha seat, Ramesh Awasthi, is upbeat about the party’s prospects and is confident that the party would come out with flying colours in the elections. In an interview with Rajiv Srivastava, he rubbished claims of being an “outsider” and said that he would work for ‘Viksit Kanpur’ on the lines of PM Narendra Modi’s ‘
How is your poll campaign progressing?
It’s going well. The people-friendly schemes started by PM Narendra Modi have reached the ground level. The common man is very excited.
What is your agenda for the Kanpur Lok Sabha seat if you win the polls?
I will work for ‘Viksit Kanpur’ to fulfil the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Viksit Bharat Mission, 2047. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath
want all-round development of Kanpur. My aim is to restore the past glory of the city.
Opposition parties are claiming that you are an
Congress had raised this issue.
Is Rahul Gandhi contesting from Rae Bareli as an outsider or a native of Rae Bareli? What is the actual definition of an outsider? I have been residing in Kanpur since 2010. I did my LLB in 1996 from Kanpur. Since then, I have also been active in Kanpur student politics. I have my home in Swaroopnagar locality of Kanpur. I organise programmes like mango parties and Holi Milan in which people and members of all parties participate.
Were you not elected student union president of a degree college in Farrukhabad?
It is true that I was into student politics in Farrukhabad. There is no doubt that I was born in Farrukhabad, and I completed my initial schooling there. Lekin meri karmbhoomi Kanpur hai (my workplace has been Kanpur). Since 2010, I have been residing permanently in Kanpur. I am a member of the BJP working committee representing Kanpur for the last five years. This issue is only being raised through the media.
Your nearest rival and Congress candidate Alok Misra is from Kanpur. Of the five assembly constituencies falling in Kanpur City Lok Sabha constituency, three assembly constituencies have MLAs from Samajwadi Party, including Mohd Hasan Rumi from Kanpur Cantt, Amitabh Bajpai from Aryanagar and Haji Irfan Solanki from Sisamau. How will you overcome these challenges?
There is no doubt that three assembly constituencies are with Samajwadi Party. There were some issues due to which the SP MLAs won from these three seats by a narrow margin. But in the last Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won from Aryanagar assembly segment. The BJP also won mayoral elections. We are now regularly winning from these seats. In Lok Sabha polls, the candidate’s role also becomes significant. In the last general election, Congress had two prominent faces, Shriprakash Jaiswal and Ajay Kapoor. Now that Ajay Kapoor is in BJP, he has come with his vote support and Jaiswal is no longer active in politics. Congress is left with nothing.
How will you check the division of votes of specific castes?
There is no impact of the Opposition candidate in the city. Name one leader from any caste who is supporting the Congress candidate. Barring his family vote, the Congress candidate will not even get the support from the staff of the school which he owns.
There is feedback that the BJP local unit is not happy with you.
This claim is baseless. I am a member of the BJP working committee from Kanpur. Each office-bearer of the district unit is with me. Can anyone name even one organisation office-bearer not working to ensure the victory of BJP in Kanpur?
People are saying you are overconfident. Is it so?
No BJP worker is overconfident. We say what we see on the ground. Each voter is with Modi and
Yogi
in Kanpur. We have good support in Sisamau and Aryanagar. In other areas, things have improved after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s roadshow.
