After Indian PM Narendra Modi has become MP from Varanasi, there is a visible change in the situation comparison to earlier times but still a lot needs to be done and this Bajrang Dal activist has said it all as to why he is not happy with Modi and BJP now.
His name is Ashish Yadav (25), other than being a Bajrang Dal activist he is also a student of law at the Banaras Hindu University. He considers it as his duty to fight any threat against the Hindu religion and he daily spends three-four hours for spreading the ideology of Bajrang Dal.
When he is asked to give his opinion on the Modi’s achievement for his constituency and the country, he feels that Modi has definitely brought a change in the mindset of the people as he says, “Let’s start with the country. The biggest achievement is that he is changing people’s mindset. Take Swachh Bharat for instance. Let’s leave aside how much India has been cleaned up. Just see the change in people’s behavior. They look for a dustbin now, instead of littering the streets.”
But when the discussion reaches to PM Modi’s foreign visits, his tone changed a little and he tells that why despite being a part of Modi’s election campaign in 2014, at present he is not able to justify PM Modi’s vision, he said, “His foreign trips, frankly, are a minus. People complain he goes abroad too much, gives too many speeches, but does little. I tell them he goes abroad to bring investment, to make foreign companies come to India and create jobs. But people ask me, where are the foreign companies? Anyone came to Banaras? Created any jobs?”
He further adds, “See, I am not from the BJP, I tell them. But since I had actively campaigned for Modi in 2014 in the BHU campus, the people now come to me and ask for answers. I am not able to defend Modi’s foreign trips or his performance in 18 months.”
He vents out his anger on the local BJP unit when he said, “During the elections, people got the impression that would become prime minister and all problems would be solved overnight. Modi is doing what he needs to do, but I blame the local BJP. They have occupied the mayor’s chair for 25 years. Three of five MLAs are BJP members. They aren’t doing their job. Given how Varanasi is a BJP city from municipality to the prime minister, blaming the Samajwadi Party-led state government doesn’t wash with people.”
Roads, health and education are the answer when he is asked what does Varanasi needs from PM Modi. He tells how the municipal corporation plays games when Modi is coming on a visit to Varanasi, “Whenever Modi has to come to Varanasi, the municipal corporation starts repairing a few main roads on a war-footing. After Modi ji goes back to Delhi, they will stop caring about the roads. I suggest Modi ji to come and take a different road route every time he comes to Varanasi. That way, we’ll get good roads!”
Ashish also talked about the disastrous situation of hospitals, education and irrigation in rural areas of Banaras, he told, “The Banaras Hindu University’s medical college handles patients from across Purvanchal (eastern Uttar Pradesh). One doctor has a thousand patients in a day. The other hospitals are in a state of collapse. Can’t they do something about this? Look at the state of education, it needs a complete overhaul. Step outside the city and talk to farmers. Who will bring water to irrigate their farms?”
He also tells that BJP’s officer bearers are not interested in listening to their own workers and they are not at all helpful, in fact it is easy for them to get some work done through SP or BSP MLA but not BJP. He also tells that BJP doesn’t want to visit the rural areas, in fact Sangh is also not interested in entering rural areas. He also talked about the debate taking place in BHU on these topics as he tells, “In BHU, we debate these things all the time. Some say inflation has increased some say it has decreased. You know what happened with the price of dal. And there are no jobs despite Modi’s foreign visits.”
There are many other things that he talked about but if BJP and PM Modi really want to do something for Varanasi then the local BJP unit should be responsive and helpful to the people and focus should be on roads, health and education.