Barkha Dutt In UP: Rajnath Singh Confident Of Majority, Akhilesh Yadav Banks On Congress Tie-Up
Follow Barkha Dutt as she travels across UP during the assembly elections.
The fifth phase of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh concluded on Monday. A total of 51 constituencies went to polls, with an estimated voter base of 1.84 crore. More than 57 percent of the voters had cast their vote as of 5 pm.
On The Quint’s UP election coverage, Barkha Dutt speaks to the key players and kingmakers in the state, and attempts to make sense of how locals are voting.
With just two phases of polling remaining, here are the highlights from her journey across the UP.
Alliance With Congress Will Have Larger National Impact: CM Akhilesh Yadav
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav says that the grand alliance formed between Samajwadi Party and Congress will remove confusion from the mind of the voters, and will make sure that the votes are not divided.
His party may have had to compromise with the number of seats they hold in the alliance, but the benefits of the compromise would be evident in the election results, he adds.
In this interview with Barkha Dutt, Yadav also talks about the SP's strategy, the youth factor in UP and the recent struggle for power against his father Mulayam Singh Yadav.
BJP Will Win Absolute Majority in UP: Rajnath Singh
India's home minister and former chief minister of UP, Rajnath Singh said that he was fully confident of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) securing an absolute majority in the assembly elections.
He adds that the BJP does not suffer from a crisis of credibility. “Be it our PM or our party, people trust us,” he says.
In this interview with Barkha Dutt, Singh talks about India-Pakistan relations, Narendra Modi's controversial remarks during rallies, and the student protest in Ramjas College of Delhi University.
Mulayam's 'Choti Bahu' Wants To Be The ‘Fevicol’ Of Yadav Family
Aparna Yadav, the newest political entrant in the Yadav family, will make her poll debut this time around.
She is the wife of Prateek Yadav, son of Mulayam Singh Yadav and half brother of Akhilesh Yadav.
In this interview to Barkha Dutt, Aparna insists she wants to be the “Fevicol” of the family. She also speaks about why she praised the party’s opponent, the Prime Minister, and took a selfie with him, takes questions on her husband Prateek’s Lamborghini, and explains her politically controversial take on reservations.
Will AIMIM Play Spoiler Again?
Assadudin Owaisi's All India Mjlis-e-Ittehad-ul- Muslimeen has been termed a 'spoiler' by various parties as they split up the Muslim voter base during Maharashtra's state assembly elections.
Now the party has fielded 38 candidates in UP, will the AIMIM be able make a dent in the state's politics?
In this interview with Barkha Dutt, Owaisi talks about "triple talaq", defends his party's legitimacy and talks about its role in the UP polls.
'No Government Addresses Our Basic Needs'
Disillusioned with successive governments failing to address the peoples’ basic needs, this bangle-seller in Ayodhya has no time to waste on issues of mandir and masjid, believing it to be a matter of politicking and hidden agendas. But the man is not quite so straightforward – he may fly the Samajwadi flag above his shop, but there’s no question he has a favourite. And it’s not Akhilesh.