Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, a close confidant of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, is said to be the Brahmin face of the government and the BJP in the state.

Pathak, who joined politics as a student, became President of the Lucknow University Students Union in 1990. He tried his luck in the Assembly elections for the first time on a Congress ticket in 2002 from the Mallawan seat in Hardoi but lost by a slender margin of 125 votes. Later he joined the BSP and won the 2004 Lok Sabha poll from Unnao. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a BSP member in 2009 but lost the Lok Sabha poll as the BSP candidate in 2014.

Pathak joined the BJP in 2016 and won the Assembly polls from Lucknow Central in 2017 and from Lucknow (Cantonment) in 2022. During the first term of the Yogi government, Pathak was the Law Minister and became the Deputy Chief Minister after the BJP retained power in the state in March last year.

In an interview with Manoj Bhadra, Pathak alleged that Opposition parties, particularly the Samajwadi Party, were raising casteist and communal issues while the Yogi Adityanath government was devoting its time and energy to the state’s speedy development.

Excerpts:

Q. SP leaders are demanding a ban on ‘Ramcharitmanas’ and caste census in the state. What is the take of the UP government on the matter?

A: Our government is totally engrossed in solving the problems of the people through the development and uplift of the economy. Some political parties, particularly SP, are trying to derail the effort through such antipeople movements. But they should know that the political narrative in UP has changed and people now want employment and a good living standard. These Opposition parties will get a befitting reply in the coming 2024 Lok Sabha poll when people will reject them. Besides, people of the state know the real face of these people who have pushed the state backward during their tenure by promoting caste and communal politics.

Q. How will the BJP counter various charges of the Opposition in the run-up to the Lok Sabha poll?

A: There is no need for the BJP to inform the people about the conspiracy of the Opposition. People are very happy with the BJP regime, with no fear of criminals, communal tension, or law and order issues. Now in our regime, women and girls are safe to move out of their houses even late at night. Criminals and their accomplices are languishing in jails or have fled the state. This is what the BJP has done during the last six years of its rule along with accelerating development. The recent GIS (Global Investors Summit) has given just a glimpse of the potential that the state has always had. Prior to 2017 this could not be achieved because the governments were mortgaged due to casteism, communalism and family politics.

UP has always been a state of immense potential. In 1947, the per capita income of UP was better than the national average. But it fell later to one-third of the national average as those in power committed the sin of dividing the society on the basis of caste, religion and belief. Corruption flourished in the name of family politics and the government was mortgaged. However, we have grown rapidly and doubled the per capita income and the GDP in the last six years and, I am sure, the per capita income of UP will be more than the national average in the next five years. We will win a majority of the seats in the Lok Sabha poll in UP and the Opposition, even if united, will face the anger of the people.

Q. What is your reaction to the recent incident of Kanpur Dehat? Was it not an administrative failure?

A: The government reacted immediately and did whatever was required. We suspended the concerned officials and ordered a highlevel probe. The victims were given compensation and security. I can assure you that this government will not tolerate any nuisance that brings bad name to the government and those responsible will be punished. The government is very sensitive on all issues, particularly those pertaining to atrocities against the poor and harassment by officials. Opposition leaders were just trying to draw mileage from the issue and shedding crocodile tears.

Q. The recent GIS was a big success for the UP government. But the Opposition is raising questions about the actual investment commitments received during the event. What’s your take?

A: The Opposition will soon get an appropriate response as our government is committed to holding the ground-breaking ceremony by November this year. We have received record investment proposals. Yesterday I instructed the concerned departments to ask officials to individually engage with all the potential investors so that the investments take real shape at the earliest. I don’t want to make tall claims about the number of investments at the ground-breaking ceremony but even if it is one-third or half of the total amount, it will be big for the state to generate lakhs of jobs for the state’s youth. UP has the best law and order situation in the country now and no one can stop the state from becoming the biggest economy in the country.

Q. This time the Chief Minister has given you the important Health Department after your solo effort during the pandemic in the last tenure when you were the Law Minister. What is your strategy to provide better health facilities to 25 crore people in the state?

A: Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh is moving towards achieving the goal of one district, and one medical college. There are now only 12 districts out of 75 where there is no medical college. By next year, these districts too will have medical colleges.

Presently we have 30 private and 35 government medical colleges in the state besides several super specialty hospitals like AIIMS in Gorakhpur and Rae Bareli, GIMS in Noida and SGPGIMS & Ram Manohar Lohia in Lucknow. Besides, there are 92 district hospitals that were being upgraded to serve people with all types of illnesses. The government is already providing free medicines and several tests at these government-run hospitals.

Q. You are claiming that the government is expanding medical colleges and hospitals. But how will you cope with the shortage of doctors, nursing, and paramedical staff?

A: We are already engaging retired doctors and appointing new pass-out MBBS in a big way. In order to meet the shortage of nursing staff, the government has decided to open nursing colleges in all the medical colleges. This will help us a lot as presently there are just five nursing colleges in the government sector. To give a boost to the training and appointment of paramedics, the government has already set up a Regulatory Commission. Our government is concerned about the well-being of the 25 crore people of the state and during the GIS too, investments worth several thousand crores have been received to set up hospitals and other health facilities in the private sector.