Akhilesh accuses Yogi of foul play in dist panchayat chairpersons’ polls

Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday accused chief minister Yogi Adityanath of rigging the district panchayat chairpersons’ polls

Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday accused chief minister Yogi Adityanath of rigging the district panchayat chairpersons’ polls.

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“The chief minister may win accolades now (for winning the elections) but will have to pay heavily in the 2022 UP assembly polls as the people are all ready and eager to oust the BJP. Samajwadi Party will win 2022 polls by sweeping 350 seats,” Akhilesh claimed.

In a statement issued by SP, he said: “The chief minister, in his arrogance of power, crossed all limits in rigging the district panchayat chairpersons’ polls in the state. His anti-democratic conduct has put the existence of constitutional institutions in peril. By holding public mandate hostage, the BJP leaders in nexus with the state administration forcefully and deceitfully prevented Samajwadi Party candidates from filing their nominations. And the SP leaders are being harassed by filing fake cases on them. The sad part is that instead of checking such persons who were disrupting the poll process, the officers concerned chose to be mute spectators instead of taking action.”

Akhilesh further alleged that after getting rejection from the people, the BJP people in Balrampur in a bid to forcibly ensure its victory put the SP candidate under “house arrest” and snatched the nomination papers. Similarly, in Lalitpur also BJP people did not allow the SP candidate for file the nomination papers, he alleged.

Akhilesh also alleged that some BJP elements laid siege to the main gate of the collectorate in Gorakhpur and “guarded” every entry point to the collectorate. “Such an act in the chief minister’s home district was shameful,” he said.

He alleged that in Jhansi the SP candidate was prevented from filing the nomination, in Varanasi the SP candidate’s nomination was rejected in a conspiracy while in Basti, some people tried to abduct the SP candidate.

In Ghaziabad, just before the nomination the SP candidate and his proposers were abducted; in Bareilly, a former SP MLA was attacked and in several districts the police and revenue officer instead of stopping malpractices played an active role, he further alleged.