Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of deliberately blocking his party’s planned programme in Bulandshahr out of fear.
Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Yadav said the party’s Bulandshahr unit had organised an event to meet locals, understand their problems, prepare a district-specific manifesto for the upcoming assembly elections and interact with journalists. Officials first asked the party to postpone the programme citing the Sawan month. After a new date was fixed, permission for landing his helicopter was denied on the grounds of waterlogging at the helipad, he claimed.
“The BJP government is panicked by our programmes. In a democracy, no government has ever snatched people’s rights so blatantly,” Yadav alleged. The SP chief described the denial of permission as “a clear evidence that the ruling party is nervous about the Samajwadi Party’s grassroots outreach”.
Yadav also alleged that the government filed FIRs against those who shared videos of dilapidated primary schools and that police stopped SP leaders and workers from holding a ‘Pathshala Pukare’ programme at closed schools on Teachers’ Day.
The SP chief used the occasion to criticise the government’s handling of floods in Lakhimpur Kheri and surrounding areas. He alleged that flood-control funds had been misused and a file for construction at Panchpedi Ghat had remained pending since 2019. He assured party workers from Lakhimpur that an SP government would prioritise bridges, ghats, flood protection and urban development works in the district.
Yadav further alleged that the BJP government in the state was opposing reservations, targeting minorities and making false claims about economic growth while ordinary people struggled for basic healthcare and livelihood. He also alleged that the government was resorting to last-minute announcements and heavy political spending because it sensed defeat in the upcoming assembly elections.
{{/usCountry}}Yadav further alleged that the BJP government in the state was opposing reservations, targeting minorities and making false claims about economic growth while ordinary people struggled for basic healthcare and livelihood. He also alleged that the government was resorting to last-minute announcements and heavy political spending because it sensed defeat in the upcoming assembly elections.
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