At thirty three she is already being noticed among the political circles. Dynamic in work and bindaas in attitude Anupriya Patel has seen quite a change in her life. From a lady Sri Ram College graduate who used to dress up in modern clothes and whose general knowledge was limited to the name of the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Anupriya is campaigning in the heat and dust of Mirzapur while still trying to understand the political manouverings and the backward mindsets.
In a chat with The Pioneer, on Friday, Anupriya while in the last leg of campaigning comes out as refreshingly candid and forthright. She agrees that there were challenges involved when the change happened which included the trivial one of being called a “behenji” which had different connotations in her hep college days at lSR.
She admits that she has a unique way of campaigning wherein she tells the voters to find out what she has done in her Rohaniya constituency as an MlA and then decide whether to vote for her or not.
She is extremely confident that she is going to win and does not attribute it only to the Modi wave. “I will win and the people understand that that I am educated and smart enough to get work done. The Modi wave can do nothing if the candidate has no merit. Besides the people have supported me in the past when I fought for the MlA seat,” she said.
Anupriya admits that she was thrust into politics from the normal life she was leading after her father Apna Dal leader Sonelal Patel’s death barely 10 days after her marriage. “I was leading these cool heroine type of life when all of a sudden this legacy of my father was passed to me. I am not the kind of personality who is cut out to be a politician. For myself I thought that it was easy to be a politician because one has to only give “bhashan” but I am learning now. I had to take up this job because there were people’s expectations attached to me and the party’s expectations attached to me. I will do full justice to the job even if I have to make sacrifices,” she said.
Anupriya admits that partymen are aghast at her way of dealing with the voter. “I am very honest with the voters and this is what they appreciate in me. When they ask me whether I could get their work done I make it very clear to them that first I have to enter the Parliament and know how things are carried out there before I make a commitment to them. Also I tell them to check out what I have done in my constituency as an MlA before casting their vote for me. My party people keep telling me not to talk like this but I do not pay attention to them,” she said.
Patel says that the scene is quite the opposite of what she has learnt in lSR. “The people are so poor and the mindsets so backward. The caste dynamics play great role. In villages that I visit and call for the meeting of women, it is men who sit on chairs while women sit on the floor. I then make the women sit on the chairs. I dare say that they like the audacity,” she said.
When asked what she would do for Mirzapur if she is elected as an MP, Patel says that it all depends on the final picture emerging,” If suppose that Narendra Modi is elected as the Prime Minister then with BJP as an ally I will see that I can resolve the issue of Irrigation, Higher Education, getting a separate Vindhaya University. But this cannot happen in one day because I don’t have a magic wand,” said Patel.
She admits that her whole persona has undergone a change, “I had never worn a saree and now I have to wear it in a traditional manner plus see that my dress is in keeping with what is expected from a women politician. My old class mates have a good time laughing looking at me because I look like a tribal . But this is not about glamour. One has to be with the people and fight their rights and I make sure wherever the people need me I am there,” she said.