‘Politics has changed, focus now on performance’

He has been (and continues to be) a well-regarded backroom strategist. He has been a Rajya Sabha member for 12 years. He is a Union minister. Now, Bhupender Yadav (54) is contesting his maiden election from Rajasthan’s Alwar Lok Sabha constituency, and said he has found the experience “empowering”. He spoke to

about his promises to the people of Alwar, and the BJP’s developmental agenda. ensure that the water sharing agreement signed between Haryana and Rajasthan is implemented and potable water will be provided.

Another priority area will be young people. During the Congress rule in the state, we saw corruption and paper leaks; the educated youth suffered when every second month, there used to be a paper leak (for a test for a government job). We have promised... that there will be a law against paper leaks and that we will make examinations a wholly transparent exercise in Rajasthan as well as the rest of the country. number of Lakhpati Didis (millionaire sisters; this is a credit scheme aimed at boosting entrepreneurship among women in rural India) and building houses under the PM Awas Yojna. Now, we intend to increase that number and take the schemes further. It is wrong to say there is nothing new in our manifesto. There is consistency and continuity...

In Kerala’s Wayanad, the Communist Party is fighting against the Congress, but in Bihar, they are collaborating. There is no clarity on who is against whom and who is with whom. In such a scenario, how will these parties know what their mission is? Caste politics is not merely counting castes. The Congress has never been a party that believed in social justice.