Centre has great opportunity on Republic Day to repeal farm laws: Akhilesh Yadav

Akhilesh claimed that the youth were distressed under the current Central government and unemployment was on the rise while there was an unprecedented politicisation of educational institutions going on.

Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav has said that the Centre should accept all demands of the protesting farmers and repeal the new farm laws this Republic Day as it presented a great opportunity to show nationalism and commitment to the Constitution.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the BJP was not a farmers' party (PTI file photo)

"On January 26, the Republic Day, the Centre should accept all demands of the farmers and withdraw the new farm laws. The BJP government has a great opportunity on January 26. The BJP government can show its nationalism, love for the Constitution by accepting their demands. There cannot be anything better than this," he said while addressing a press conference at the party's state headquarters in Lucknow on Tuesday.

The press conference was held on the sidelines of an event where several national and state youth award winners joined the party. Some of them are the ones who won the UP youth icon awards last year.

"BJP people don't know about agriculture. Their people are not farmers. Samajwadi Party people are farmers. We understand them. We are with them and will stand by them. They have our support. BJP does not support farmers, it (BJP) only supports the businesses related to farming," the SP president said.

Addressing the youth who joined the party, Akhilesh said the SP was a youth and farmer-oriented party. He recollected that the party on January 12— the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand—had held youth connect interactive programmes across the state.

"The youth are distressed under this government. Unemployment is rising. The way politicisation of educational institutions has started happening in the country is something that has never happened before. The NSA is being imposed on the youth when they raise their voices of dissent. Quality of education is falling, the fee and the cost of education is rising," he added.

"Without creating or consolidating online education infrastructure and backup, the government pushed students for online education. Most of the students suffered all the more because of the digital divide," the former UP chief minister said.

Attacking the state government, he said: "UP is number one in poor education quality, poor health index, rape incidents, crime against minors, communal riots and fake encounters. The state is number one even in reprimands from the judiciary. It is such a state where serious crime cases were against those who became chief minister and deputy chief minister."

He further alleged that the state government was good at taking credit for previous governments’ work, changing names of projects and places and in political vendetta.