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UP polls: People have already given majority to SP, claims Akhilesh
Addressing public meetings in Prayagraj region, the SP chief urged voters to back SP candidates to help the Samajwadis make a historic sweep in UP polls this time
As Uttar Pradesh heads towards the fifth phase of assembly polls, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday claimed that people had already provided his party and its allies the majority to form the next government in the state by voting overwhelmingly in their favour in the first four phases of the polling held so far.
Hitting out at the rising costs of fuel and essential items, Akhilesh urged voters to back SP candidates to help the Samajwadis make a historic sweep in UP polls this time. Promising to restore the old pension scheme for government servants if his party came to power, he also said a caste census would be carried out within three months after formation of the SP government.
Addressing public meetings at Handia and Phulpur assembly areas in Prayagraj followed by Vishwanathganj and Pratapgarh Sadar assembly areas in Pratapgarh, Akhilesh came down heavily on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders alleging they were telling lies in their public meetings and had no answer to rising costs of fuel and essential items. Prayagraj, Pratapgarh and Kaushhambi are among the 12 districts where polling will be held in 61 assembly constituencies in the fifth phase on February 27. Lashing out at the BJP for “failing” to fulfil its promise of providing jobs to the youth, the SP chief said the youngsters waited for five years in hope that the government will act and their fate would change but to no avail.
“The SP government would initiate major recruitment drives to fill existing vacant posts of police and the army so as to help fulfil the dreams of thousands of eligible youngsters of donning the uniform and serving the people,” he said while also promising to fill 11 lakh posts that he said were lying vacant in the education department alone.
Referring to the floating dead bodies in the Ganga during the Covid peak, Akhilesh said the BJP government might have changed the name of the district from Allahabad to Prayagraj but it had also brought shame to the district by failing to properly handle the pandemic.
He also came down hard on the BJP for “privatising” airlines, airports, trains and railway stations etc accusing its government of selling off country’s assets and in doing so denying eligible youngsters government jobs and the reservations that the poor and backward enjoy at present.
Later in the evening, Akhilesh held a road show to garner support for the candidates in Sangam city from Rambagh to Pani-ki-Tanki area near Allahabad High Court covering all three urban assembly constituencies of the district including Allahabad North, Allahabad South and Allahabad West.
In 2017 polls, the SP had won just one seat out of the 22 in the region comprising Prayagraj (12 seats), Pratapgarh (7 seats) and Kaushambi (3 seats) districts in stark contrast to 2012 when the party had won 12 seats including eight in Prayagraj and four in Pratapgarh.
