“When you speak to a worker, he says that everything is fine, but… this ‘but’ is what is ruining everything. If half the glass is empty, we should not say that; instead, we must send the message that we will now fill the glass,” he said.
Referring to the crackdown on crime, Tawde added; “The Congress government had kept Mukhtar Ansari safe in a Punjab jail, but our government fought the matter all the way to the Supreme Court and brought him to a jail in Uttar Pradesh, where he had to live as a prisoner. Houses for the poor are now being built on land seized from mafias such as Atiq Ahmad and Mukhtar Ansari.”
On ticket distribution and the ambitions of party workers, Tawde said that there was nothing wrong with wanting to contest the election, but the state had only 403 seats. Some people would get tickets, those, who fail to get, would not work against the party.
Tawde also issued a stern warning, saying that no one would get a ticket through flattering a leader or using money; tickets would be awarded solely on the basis of work.
Tawde said, “I have not come only for the elections; I will remain in-charge of Uttar Pradesh for the next three years. I will leave Uttar Pradesh only after fulfilling the promise made to any worker who does the work. You can ask workers in Bihar, Maharashtra and Haryana about me.”
Speaking about the role of social media, Uttar Pradesh in-charge Vinod Tawde acknowledged that the BJP had become sluggish on this front. “The Opposition now understands the power of social media. In 2014, we were ahead of everyone on social media, and at the time Lalu Yadav used to ask what difference it made. But today in Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav has more followers than Nitish Kumar. Our social media presence has weakened somewhat; we do not even like or repost the prime minister’s and chief minister’s posts. Everyone will have to become active on social media because our schemes are not just about development – they are changing people’s lives.”