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UP polls: Akhilesh calls BJP government enemy of development, minorities
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav launches verbal attack while addressing two public meetings during the Lucknow leg of his Vijay Rath Yatra
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Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday hit out at the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, calling it “Vikas key dushman, alpsankhayak ke dushman (enemy of development and minorities)” but left Prime Minister Narendra Modi out of his attack ahead of the UP polls.
The SP chief launched the verbal attack while addressing two public meetings during the Lucknow leg of his Vijay Rath Yatra. The yatra was taken out on the day when Modi, along with the CM Yogi Adityanath, laid the foundation stone, for UP’s first sports university in Meerut in western Uttar Pradesh.
Akhilesh also unveiled an idol of Lord Parshuram (an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu) and offered prayers. Lord Parshuram is believed to have taken birth in a Brahmin family.
Continuing his attack on BJP, Akhilesh Yadav said: “When this government felicitated our Olympic heroes, where did Baba Mukhya Mantri do the ceremony? Of course, at the same stadium built by the SP government.”
Akhilesh started the Lucknow leg of his Vijay Yatra (the tenth in the series) from HCL headquarters at Chak Ganjaria.
Akhilesh asked the crowd to turn their eyes towards the HCL facility “that gave jobs in Lucknow to many of the youth who used to migrate to Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad for IT jobs.” Akhilesh said the HCL facility in Lucknow came up in his government’s tenure. He also asserted his government built the cancer institute and ultra-modern dairy plant in the area that was a jungle before.
He called upon people to bring back the “development-oriented SP government”.
“I call BJP government an enemy of minorities as this government also discontinued reservation for Anglo-Indians (in Parliament and state legislatures).”
Reiterating his free electricity promise, he said: “On coming to power, our government will give 300 units of free power to domestic consumers and free power to farmers for irrigation.”
“I say had this government carried forward the power plant projects of the SP government, then UP would have had plenty of cheap power. Now, when our government returns, those power projects will be executed and free power will be fulfilled easily,” he added.
“This is only the number one promise that will be in our manifesto. But there will be many more promises in our manifesto —promises for farmers, the poor, women, youths, for all. The manifesto will be released soon,” he said.
The SP chief also hit back at Yogi for frequently alleging that “in the previous government terrorists and rioters were invited at the CM’s residence.”
Akhilesh retorted: “It is this government that harbours criminals. Why doesn’t this government release lists of top gangsters in the districts? And wasn’t it this government that sheltered and protected one of its MLAs for long in a case of injustice to Unnao’s daughter? It is under this government that injustice happened to the Hathras daughter. And has there been any chief minister like this one with so many sections filed in cases against him?”
The SP chief also attacked the BJP government over farmers’ issues, unemployment, Covid deaths, law and order, price rise and development.
One public meeting was held at the Chak Ganjaria and the other at Rohtas ground, Kasimpur in Mohanlalganj assembly constituency. Akhilesh then went to Bhagwan Parshuram temple at Mahurakala village, Gosainganj, and offered prayers for about 30 minutes amid the chanting of Vedic mantras and blowing of conch shells.
The newly built temple with a 73-foot axe, the weapon of Lord Parshuram, has been built near the Purvanchal Expressway in Lucknow by Brahmin leaders of the SP.
Responding to Akhilesh’s free electricity promise, Union education minister and BJP’s election in-charge in UP Dharmendra Pradhan tweeted: “Those who gave “goondaraj” are now talking of giving free power supply. Now, Akhileshji is also talking of getting the Ram temple constructed despite the fact that everyone knows that it was the SP government that had ordered firing on Ram bhakts. The credibility of liars is zero. The red caps are again due for a shock this time.”
