Ajay Rai, the president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee who is up against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi, spoke to The Telegraph on several issues including the failed promises of the BJP, its polarising campaign, electoral bonds and the ruling party’s acceptance of bond money from those who sell beef.

Excerpts from the interview.

Q. Why is Narendra Modi attacking Rahul Gandhi and the Congress manifesto instead of publicising his own achievements of 10 years?

A. The people ask a public representative what he or she has done for them and their areas. I was elected MLA many times (four times from Kolasla and once from Pindra in Varanasi district). I tell the people what I did for the area during my tenure. But the BJP is not talking about any of its work in the past 10 years.

They realised during the campaign that they had nothing to say about their contribution to the country. They didn’t give jobs to the youths. They had said before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections that they would give Rs 15 lakh to every Indian and then themselves accepted later that it was a jumla.

Modiji had said the income of farmers would be doubled but it is lesser than before now. The price of fertilizers has increased and the weight of a gunny bag of fertilizer has been brought down from 50kg to 45kg. So they started spreading lies against Rahulji and the Congress manifesto. But this too has backfired.

It is because of them (the BJP) that a large number of people are looking up our manifesto and reading it word by word. There is a sudden increase in the demand for our manifesto after Modi’s unsubstantiated remarks. We had published some copies of it but more and more people are asking for it.

What Modi said about our manifesto to criticise us was not true, but he ended up publicising it more than we could have done with our limited resources. I want to thank Modiji for doing this. He took our manifesto to the common man. The people know the truth now.

He mentioned mangalsutras and gold with regard to our manifesto, but the people themselves read it and found that what he was saying was untrue. Gold was priced at Rs 28,000 per 10 grams in 2014 but now it is more than Rs 75,000. The mangalsutra is made of gold but the people will not be able to buy it now.

Rahulji has dedicated his life to this country. He speaks only the truth.

Q. Some people say that Modi has launched an aggressive campaign against the Congress but the party is unable to match up.

A. We speak the truth. We will not create a lie the way they are doing. We are talking about the welfare of women, farmers, the common man and about justice. The culture of the Congress is to speak the truth. We have many good things to tell the voters.

Q. Although it is a national election, what are the Congress’s issues in Uttar Pradesh?

A. The issues of the country and the issues of UP are the same. Rising inflation, unemployment and corruption are our concern. Here stray animals are a big problem because they destroy crops. They (the BJP government) have made cowsheds but the animals are not kept there.

Ironically, they took donations from those big companies that supply beef, including cow meat. They are taking money from such industries. They are making money in Uttar Pradesh from the meat of cows. How could they be gau-bhakt (worshippers of the cow)? They have been exposed completely.

Q. Why did the INDIA bloc fail to hold joint rallies in UP before the first phase of elections and did only one before the second phase? There is no information about future joint rallies of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party in UP.

A. We don’t have money to spend the way the BJP is doing. They (the Modi government) have frozen all our bank accounts and are harassing our people. It is unfortunate that they are suppressing us. We are trying to reach the people with the limited resources at our command. They have lots of money. And they can also make money by increasing the price of any commodity and gulp all the money the government receives in the form of taxes.

Q. Are you accepting that the Congress has not been able to campaign like the BJP?

A. We are campaigning in our own way. Their campaign style is different. They do pomp and show but we work on the ground. Recently, I went to the Father of a school for the admission of some children. This is how we work.

There is only one central school in Varanasi, the constituency represented by the Prime Minister. It is for the children of the employees of Banaras Hindu University and Diesel Locomotive Works. There is no central school for the children of other residents. Couldn’t Modiji open one here?

He has got ports constructed (along the Ganga) from Haldia to Prayagraj for Rs 10,000 crore but not a single ship has arrived here till date. There is no water in Gangaji, there is only sand. They believe in propaganda but we work on the ground.

Q. There is a belief that the Congress didn’t get good candidates in many of the 17 seats that it is contesting in UP.

A. Who is weak? Be it Allahabad (Ujjwal Raman Singh), Varanasi or other places, we are contesting with full force. I am contesting from Varanasi against Modiji for the third time. They tried to harass me but I am standing like Angad (the brave monkey king in the Ramayana). Banarasi me kahen to khunta gaad ke khada hun, hila ke dikhayen (In the Varanasi lingo, I am standing firm, try to unsettle me).

I can tell you that the result would surprise everybody. You see (Ramnath) Sikarwar, who has taken VRS from the army and is contesting from Agra. You see how he is campaigning. He has no money but the people like him. Our party worker is in the fray in Mathura (Mukesh Dhangar) and has his grip on the ground.

Q. What do you think of the Ram temple issue?

A. Anybody can go there. I visited Ayodhya on Makar Sankranti and took bath in the Saryuji. We went to the sanctum sanctorum where Ramji was earlier and took his blessings. Anybody can go to the temple when they wish.

Q. How is your campaign going in Varanasi?

A. It is excellent. I’ll go to file my nomination papers on a bicycle. I don’t have a Range Rover like him (Modi). Rose petals are showered on him when he comes to Varanasi but we don’t have so much money for rose petals and costly cars.