'We Will Reach Out To A Cross Section Of Voters'

Ahead of next year’s Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, the Congress party has named Sheila Dikshit as its chief ministerial candidate. In a conversation with BW Businessworld, the former Chief Minister of Delhi talks about the Grand Old Party's strategy in the state. Edited excerpts from the interview:

What brought you back to active politics and standing for the Chief Ministers position in Uttar Pradesh?
I never said I was not coming back to politics. After the defeat in Delhi I did not retire I was still very much involved in politics and I feel privileged to serve my party and to be given an opportunity to be the CM of Uttar Pradesh.

What is your party's platform for Uttar Pradesh?
We are campaigning on an inclusive platform. Congress has been out of Uttar Pradesh for 27 years and the largest state in India ranks lowest on most social indicators. The state has also been heavily divided by caste and community.

The politics of segregation has ruled for the past 27 years and we are pushing an inclusive agenda to bring the benefits of development to every strata of society. The cities are suffering, Kanpur and Benares are witnessing de-industrialization and there is an agrarian crises.

How will you approach the increasingly communal situation in the state?
There have been extremely worrying incidents around beef consumption and the Muzaffarnagar riots. Again I want to impress that we are pushing an inclusive agenda and promoting stability in the state.

Recent media reports state that your party is trying capture 10 per cent of the upper caste vote.
We are not going to run this election for 10 per cent of the population we have never had this mandate. Our mandate is to build an inclusive platform and reach everyone. Small and big towns. Farmers, teachers, workers. Participatory governance, accountability and consensus building.

Your recent Varanasi yatra was a huge success, were you surprised?
It was wonderful, the streets were filled with people, and the roof tops were filled with people. In the Prime Minsters own constituency people came in huge numbers to send a very strong message. They were happy to see the Congress party in full force and they told us that the Prime Minster has not delivered on his promises to Varanasi; to his constituency and they were letting them know with their presence.