Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national convenor Akash Anand on Monday applauded Gen Z agitation in Delhi but questioned its achievement as he suggested that real change can come by electing right leaders and correct party as merely making speeches and staging protests would not change the government.
“It should be assessed as to what change was brought about. They changed one person and brought another, but neither the policy changed, nor the process, nor the officials. Your future is still the same,” he said.
“The true track was shown by the late Kanshi Ram and Mayawati who always stressed on change in the ruling set up and always motivated their followers to become rulers themselves because ultimately one should be in position to write one’s own destiny by acquiring power,” the BSP leader claimed.
“Our generation was criticised of being that of social media unable to get on to roads to bring the change. But the Delhi agitation proved this criticism of our Gen Z wrong and the education minister had to resign,” Anand, who is also the BSP chief’s nephew, said.
He was addressing a public meeting in Hathras district’s Sadabad assembly segment. The event was organised as part of the BSP’s preparations for the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
{{/usCountry}}He was addressing a public meeting in Hathras district’s Sadabad assembly segment. The event was organised as part of the BSP’s preparations for the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
{{/usCountry}}During his address, he coined a new slogan: ‘Is baar vote haathi ko, apne purane sathi ko’ (Vote this time for the elephant, your trusted old friend) and urged voters to make BSP chief Mayawati chief minister for the fifth time.
“It is good to lodge protests and voice resentment but we need the right action: elect a good leader and choose a correct party that fights for you. Thus vote for the party based on its actions and not on the basis of petty offers made through fake manifesto. Bring back Behan Mayawati Ji for your own good,” Anand said.
He cautioned the gathering about new propaganda against ‘reservation’ in name of unemployment among the youth. “Removing of reservation is being posed as ‘mantra’ for ‘removal of poverty’ which is totally unfounded. Reservation is basically for removing social inequality and is not in any way linked to poverty removal,” he claimed.
“The way those from our generation got down on roads in Delhi and fought for their rights, youth from our ‘samaj’ should also fight for our rights. The opportunity is coming with the upcoming state assembly election and thus we should not miss this opportunity and vote for change this time,” said Anand who applauded his mentor and party leader Mayawati.
Moreover, he accused the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh of failing on employment, education and law and order, and alleged that more than ₹7,000 crore had been spent on advertisements over the past decade to hide its shortcomings. Anand said the government should be questioned about its performance over the last 10 years.
“Had the money been spent on examinations for youth and employment, a large number of young people could have got government jobs,” he said. “Infants died in Jhansi Medical College, government posts are lying vacant, 25,000 government schools were closed and prominent exam papers are getting leaked,” Anand claimed.
Coming down heavily on the Congress, Anand termed the BJP and the Congress two sides of same coin. “Congress makes a fake claim of protecting the Constitution but acts like the BJP wherever it is in power,” the BSP national convenor alleged.
The Congress talked about the Constitution of B R Ambedkar but was doing in states where it was in power what the BJP government was doing, he further alleged.
Anand also targeted the SP and its chief Akhilesh Yadav as he referred to the party’s PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) formulation and alleged it “keeps changing”.
Akash Anand amused the gathering at Sadabad when he referred to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav as “uncles”. After referring to the SP chief as “uncle”, Anand said, “I am 30, he is 50. What else should I call him! He’s not bhaiyya (elder brother), he is uncle to me. And I am saying this respectfully.” HTC