Samajwadi Party leader Pushpendra Saroj had turned 25 years old just two weeks before the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls. He managed to win UP’s Kaushambi seat by defeating the BJP’s Vinod Sonkar, a two-time MP, with a margin of over 1 lakh votes.

In a conversation with Newslaundry, he spoke about his decision to contest the elections, his political agenda, and the role played by youth in the country’s politics.

“There should not be politics of hate…For the last 10 years, an atmosphere of fear has been created in the country due to which even a tea-seller is afraid to speak up today. There should not be such politics.”

On action over protests led by the youth and the jailing of activists such as Umar Khalid, Saroj says that the “BJP is using UAPA as a tool against opposition leaders and even the media. This is a misuse of the institutions of the country.” 

Saroj says while price rise and unemployment were the reasons why the BJP lost many seats in Uttar Pradesh, it was because of the Yogi Aditynath government’s “bulldozer model” that the saffron party lost in Ayodhya.

“Bulldozers were run over people’s houses overnight…They were not even allowed to take out their belongings…For politics, the personal problems of the people of Ayodhya were ignored, due to which the BJP had to face defeat.”

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