E-Paper
UP polls: Akhilesh promises NREGA-like law in urban areas, meals at ₹10
Uttar Pradesh assembly elections 2022: The SP chief was speaking in Ghaziabad, which will vote in the first phase, along with 53 other seats in western UP, on February 10.
Ghaziabad: The Samajwadi Party (SP) will open subsidised canteens and grocery stores for the poor if it is voted to power in the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, besides enacting a law to guarantee urban employment, party chief Akhilesh Yadav promised on Saturday.
Yadav announced the proposed initiatives at a joint press conference with his election ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary in Ghaziabad on Saturday. The SP has fielded three candidates and the RLD two for the five assembly seats in the region. All five are currently held by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Voters in Uttar Pradesh will elect a new assembly through polls in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. The results for all 403 seats will be declared on March 10.
Ghaziabad will vote in the first phase, along with in 53 other seats in western UP, which has become a hotbed of hectic election campaigning as the SP-RLD alliance looks to wrest the initiative from the BJP in the crucial farm belt. A large section of farmers in western UP participated in the year-long agitation against the contentious farm laws that have now been repealed.
Earlier this month, Yadav promised 300 units of free electricity to households, free power to farmers for irrigation and free laptops to students.
“We also decided that the old age pension will be revived, a demand from many organisations and government employees,” Yadav said. “On the same lines, we will open Samajwadi canteens and kirana stores, where poor and marginalised people will get subsidised ration and food. This is in line with Ram Manohar Lohiya’s thought of daam bandho niti (price control regime) to check price rise.”
He added: “We will arrange for food in these canteens, and a plate will be made available for ₹10. The idea is to get rid of the problem of hunger from the state. Earlier, we started this scheme, where a plate was available for ₹20, but the BJP stopped it... We will also bring in an urban employment guarantee act on the lines of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA). This will help youth and people who come to cities in search of jobs.”
MGNREGA, a welfare scheme started by the United Progressive Alliance government in February 2006, ensures 100 days of employment to all rural households.
Yadav accused the BJP of “negative politics” and of disrespecting farmers.
“We are going to win in UP,” Yadav said. “I wish to congratulate the farmers who took up the fight in this city (Ghaziabad) and the BJP had to bow down. They termed the farmers as terrorists and unruly. Everyone saw how the Ghazipur border was sealed with iron nails, boulders and heavy deployment of police. But farmers did not budge from any of the borders.”
He added: “Former Prime Minister late Chaudhary Charan Singh brought farmers together and fought for them. He worked for financial betterment of farmers and his works have been carried forward by the SP and RLD leaders. We are preserving the legacy of Chaudhary Charan Singh. While the BJP is roaming around in the streets, we are getting support.”
RLD chief Chaudhary, who is grandson of Charan Singh, said that barbs about “Jinnah” and “Aurangzeb” have nothing to do with the people.
“We will fight people who spread hatred and lies. Jinnah and Aurangzeb have nothing to do with the people. We only talk of development and progress,” Chaudhary said. “Events a year earlier at Ghazipur border were disrespectful to farmers across the country and its pain is still present. On that evening, there was a conspiracy by the government and farmers will never forget it.”
He was referring to an incident on January 28, 2021, during the farmers’ protest at Ghazipur border when Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait broke down in public on the dais and alleged that there was a conspiracy to attack farmers. Tikait’s emotional appeal drew huge crowds to the protest site.
Yadav on Saturday also said that 90 migrant workers died when they were forced to leave the cities to their native places in UP during the hard lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.
“It was on the SP and RLD workers who helped migrant workers, and I recall the sufferings of a pregnant woman from Nashik. No one arrived for help,” Yadav said. “Had there been an SP government, we would have used the district magistrate’s car to help out the woman.”
Reacting to the statements of Yadav and Chaudhary, the BJP said that the proposed schemes will fail.
“It is known to everyone the magnitude of corruption during the SP government. It is a well-known fact that the SP brings in schemes so that corruption can flourish,” said Chandra Mohan, spokesperson and secretary of the BJP’s state unit. “The BJP has worked for the benefit of farmers and they are with the party. The roll back of farm laws shows the sensitivity of the Prime Minister towards the farmers.”
Top BJP leaders, including Union home minister Amit Shah and chief minister Yogi Adityanath, have been in talks with prominent Jat leaders in western UP to assuage them over the farm protests, and pitch to them that their interests are still best served by the ruling party.
