BJP orchestrated elections during extreme heat: Akhilesh

SP president Akhilesh Yadav accused BJP of orchestrating elections in extreme heat, urged high voter turnout. Criticized BJP over unemployment, inflation.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP of ‘orchestrating’ elections during extreme heat conditions, and that they could have been held a month earlier.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his wife and party candidate from Mainpuri Dimple Yadav get their fingers inked before casting their votes in Saifai of Etawah district on Tuesday. (PTI)

Akhilesh, who cast his vote in Saifai (Etawah) for Mainpuri constituency where his wife and sitting MP Dimple Yadav is in the fray, also urged electors to maximise their participation in the electoral process. The Lok Sabha seat went to polls in the third round of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday.

While speaking to reporters there, he targeted the ruling party over rising unemployment and inflation.

“We all know that the prices of goods that were low in 2014 are now out of reach of the common man. The reason behind this is excessive profit, which is going into the BJP’s pockets. Inflation is also a consequence of corruption,” he noted.

Meanwhile, news agency PTI quoted Akhilesh Yadav alleging that BJP workers were trying to loot booths in Mainpuri and detaining people from opposition parties in police stations.

He also said the BJP was getting frustrated after seeing the support the SP-Congress alliance had been getting in the elections so far.

Asked about recent statements of the BJP’s Mainpuri candidate Jaiveer Singh on the SP being a party of ‘goondas’, Akhilesh stated that the BJP leaders were frustrated and instigating SP workers to react.

Also, Dimple highlighted pressing issues of unemployment and inflation, attributing them to a crisis of both policy and intent within the BJP. She said this election was to save democracy and the Constitution.