UP polls 2022: Akhilesh Yadav promises caste census if Samajwadi Party is voted to power

Uttar Pradesh assembly elections will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7 and the result will be declared with four other states on March 10.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said on Sunday that if his party is voted to power in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, a caste-based census will be conducted in the state and social justice delivered to castes according to their share in the population.

Akhilesh Yadav further hit out at chief minister Yogi Adityanath for having lunch at a Dalit's house in Gorakhpur on Makar Sankranti. He said it was only meant to get votes. (File image)

Yadav, who welcomed the third former UP minister (all of them from backward communities), Dara Singh Chauhan, into the SP during an event in Lucknow, said, "This government is counting trees, counting animals but why is it not counting backwards in the population. I want that caste census be done so that the backwards get benefits as per their share in the population"

He further hit out at chief minister Yogi Adityanath for having lunch at a Dalit's house in Gorakhpur on Makar Sankranti. He said it was only meant to get votes.

"You all must have seen he ate ‘khichdi’ with so much disinterest. He must be remembering, oh we forgot to send shampoo, soap (for the family to have a wash beforehand)."

With a number of legislators from the ruling camp crossing over to the Samajwadi Party just ahead of the crucial polls, Yadav said, "There is a saying in English 'strike the iron when it is hot'. So we decided to welcome these leaders into the party at the right time. The BJP does not understand English. If they did, they would go into a depression."

Earlier in the day, Yadav welcomed Dara Singh Chauhan, a former minister in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet, in its fold on Sunday. Chauhan resigned from the cabinet on Wednesday.

Another sitting MLA of BJP ally Apna Dal-S, RK Verma, also joined the Yadav-led party.

“I congratulate both of you for joining the fight to defeat and oust BJP. Let us fight in a manner that BJP candidates’ poll deposits are forfeited,” the former chief minister said.

The BJP suffered a jolt earlier after its prominent OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya quit the cabinet and joined the Samajwadi Party earlier this week. Following his lead, Dharam Singh Saini and Chauhan also resigned from the cabinet.

The Samajwadi Party has stitched a coalition of smaller parties for the assembly polls and has emerged as the main rival of the ruling BJP in the state.

Uttar Pradesh assembly elections will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7 and the result will be declared with four other states on March 10.