KCR key to rebuild the nation, says Akhilesh

In an exclusive interview to 'Telangana Today', the SP chief spoke at length about the role of BRS and KCR in uniting the opposition parties to take on BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Hyderabad: With several leaders including Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Left parties working towards a political alternative with a clear agenda, Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav has expressed confidence that the Opposition would be able to present a credible political alternative before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to stop Narendra Modi from forming government at the Centre for the third time.

“Both the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the SP will play a stellar role in this task of rebuilding the nation, removing the corrupt and communal regime of the BJP,” Akhilesh Yadav asserted.

In an exclusive interview to ‘Telangana Today’, the SP chief spoke at length about the role of BRS and KCR in uniting the opposition parties to take on BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Q: What is your take on the current political scenario in the country and the advent of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi?

A: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi ( BRS) has decided to assume a national role at the right juncture, moving on from its earlier political entity known as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), and is now a National party. The current political scenario in the country demanded this kind of a development. The BJP, its government and its associates in the Sangh Parivar are destroying the country in all respects – socially, administratively and economically. It is marked by rabid communal sectarianism at one level and disastrous economic policies and promotion of crony capitalism at another level. In between, the administration is drifting without proper direction. There is little doubt that this is the time for leaders like KCR and parties like the BRS to play a deeper and sustained role in addressing the concerns of the nation and its people.

I am certain that both the BRS and the Samajwadi Party will play a stellar role in this task of rebuilding the nation, removing the corrupt and communal regime of the BJP. The third front will be formed before the 2024 elections. There is little doubt that the vile forces of the BJP would be defeated through our collective efforts. We all are working on it and BRS will be having a very significant role in this. In my view, KCR can be seen as the thread which unites the pearls.

Q: What is the impact and change that KCR can make on the national political scene in your opinion? What do you think about KCR’s efforts to bring the opposition together to take on the BJP?

A: The State of Telangana, is in many ways, a gateway to Central and North India from the Southern parts of the country. All of us know that KCR and the BRS hold a strong position in Southern parts of the country, politically and organisationally. We have seen KCR consistently exposing the lies of the BJP and speaking up for the benefits of the common people. The systems of governance that BRS has brought into Telangana are also people-oriented. Yes, there is little doubt that these efforts will eventually give us the political and organisational strengths as well as electoral results to build up the fight against the BJP. Mamta Banerjee, RJD and we (SP) have already started working for opposition unity. BRS is an important part of us. We will collectively form a better alliance to take on the BJP.

Q: What is your take on the BJP government at the Centre and how do you think you can stop the BJP from coming to power in 2024?

A: The BJP government is the worst ever government in India post independence. As I have stated earlier, the party, its leadership and allies in the Sangh Parivar have damaged every single sector of the country. The policies of its governments are against the poor and the middle class. They only want to benefit their capitalist friends. Farmers are not getting reasonable price for their crops across the country. Currently, the economy is in its worst state. Inflation is rising incessantly. BJP is dividing people on the basis of communalism. The policy of ‘ Divide and rule’ was practised by the British before independence and this is what the BJP’s ideological forefathers learnt from that period. These erstwhile ideological ancestors of the Sangh Parivar had no role in our freedom struggle, and they were busy learning these sectarian manoeuvres during the pre-independence period from the Britishers, instead of fighting them.

The general public of the country is more desperate than us to throw the BJP out of power. They are fed up of anti-people policies and zero development in every sector. We just have to reach out to people and gain their trust. I am certain that our collective efforts will help achieve this goal.