LUCKNOW Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday launched a sharp counter-attack against Union home minister Amit Shah, dismissing his promise to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttar Pradesh as a belated election-eve ploy and predicting a landslide victory for the SP in the 2027 Assembly polls.
Addressing a press conference in the state capital hours after Shah promised the implementation of the UCC at a BJP state working committee meeting, the former chief minister remarked that it was “too late” for the home minister’s pitch.
“Badi der kar di meherban aate-aate (it took you so long to arrive). What were they doing for the last 10 years?” Yadav quipped, questioning why the ruling party waited until the final stretch of its second consecutive term to raise the issue.
Highlighting the unimplemented Women’s Reservation Bill passed in 2023, Yadav announced that the SP would field a higher number of female candidates than the ruling party in the upcoming state elections.
The SP chief also used the occasion to renew his attack on the BJP over the MLC election results. In the biennial polls for 11 graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies, the BJP won six seats while the SP secured five. Dismissing the seat count as incomplete, he asserted that the BJP had “lost in 50 districts”.
“In the counting, it is five seats. But these people have lost in 50 districts,” he said. He alleged that the BJP’s six victories came through “deceit and tampering”, while SP candidates won based on public support.
{{/usCountry}}“In the counting, it is five seats. But these people have lost in 50 districts,” he said. He alleged that the BJP’s six victories came through “deceit and tampering”, while SP candidates won based on public support.
{{/usCountry}}Yadav took a dig at the BJP’s campaign style, saying those who had prepared for a grand show of strength instead suffered a sudden setback. He described the outcome as a “double loss of the double engine,” particularly highlighting the BJP’s defeat in Varanasi during both the initial counting and the subsequent recount.
He portrayed the results as a verdict against the BJP’s policies concerning teachers, students, education and unemployment among graduates. He claimed the BJP government had closed 26,000 primary schools while opening over 27,000 liquor shops, prompting large-scale voting against it by women teachers. “Women teachers saw that primary schools are being shut. Where will our daughters study?” he asked and promised free education from KG to PG under a future SP government.
Yadav further alleged that more than 11,000 reserved posts in government jobs had been “looted”, over 20 examination papers had been leaked and 151 statues of Babasaheb Ambedkar demolished without action being taken.
He further stated that the public’s trust in the SP was rising and predicted a record victory for the party in the 2027 Assembly elections.
Yadav also questioned the Election Commission, alleging irregularities in voter lists, fake Form 7 filings and deletion of votes. He demanded that the EC use available technology, including biometric systems at the gram sabha level, to clean the rolls and link them with metal Aadhaar cards for greater security. He reiterated the SP’s preference for ballot paper voting over EVMs.
The SP president confirmed his participation in the November 1 INDIA bloc rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. On the issue of adjusting Swami Prasad Maurya in the alliance, Yadav categorically said: “We won’t have any kind of alliance with him, he cannot fit in our alliance.”