The Bharatiya Janata Party is aiming for SP-BSP mukt Uttar Pradesh and is gearing up to secure at least 265 of the 403 seats in the state which goes to the polls next year, said newly appointed BJP president for UP, Keshav Prasad Maurya. Maurya, who represents the Phulpur constituency (Allahabad) in the Lok Sabha, told The Sunday Guardian that the BJP will fight the election on the development plank, while also highlighting “the lawlessness” under the current SP government and the corruption that had taken place in the previous regime of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party. “People of UP had voted SP to power in the last Assembly elections, but it failed miserably to deliver on their expectations. We will bank on the failures of the SP government and at the same time highlight the corruption of the previous Mayawati-led BSP government. Humlog UP ko SP-BSP mukt Pradesh banayenge (We would work to make UP free from SP and BSP),” he added.
Asked how he will ensure that the party repeats its stunning performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Maurya said: “We will win the Assembly elections on the same agenda with which we had won 73 of 80 seats (in UP) in the last general elections. The BJP is far ahead of any other party. We have already achieved the goal of Congress-mukt Bharat at the Centre. Now we will achieve SP-BSP mukt UP.”
Under the SP rule, he said, the crime rate has gone up. “Killing of NIA officer Tanzeel Ahmed is just one example of the deterioration of the law and order situation in the state. Corruption is at its peak. The case of Noida Authority official Yadav Singh indicates how corruption is prevalent in government departments. We will take all these issues to the people,” he said.
Maurya has been quite active inside Parliament and has an impressive average attendance of 98%. The 46-year-old Maurya, who is a first time MP, attended Parliament sessions every day during the past five sessions. In one session, his attendance was 95%, whereas during the Budget session this year, his attendance was 94%. His average attendance is 99% against the national average of 83%. During his almost two-year stint in the Lok Sabha, Maurya participated in 122 debates and asked as many as 144 questions on issues ranging from utilisation of revenue earned from coal to use of mobile phones. He is also a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology. Interestingly, the national average of debates is 29.6%, whereas that of questions is 124.