The electorate in Uttar Pradesh is set to vote out the BJP government and usher in a new political reality in the upcoming assembly elections, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Saturday.
Addressing the 24th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister targeted the chief minister Yogi Adityanath-led government and hinted at the seats sought by ally Congress.
Alluding to the summit’s theme of “New Rules. New Realties”, Akhilesh, during a conversation with HT’s National Political Editor Sunetra Choudhury, said: “Rule and reality will change in UP.” Uttar Pradesh is slated for polls early next year, alongside Punjab, Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand. Track LIVE updates from Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here.
The SP chief said the law-and-order situation had deteriorated in the state, rejecting the notion that frequent police encounters were a sign of swift justice.
“If law and order is better, what is the proof of that? The government says it is ‘tough on crime’, but data shows crime against Dalits, women and minorities has increased,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“If law and order is better, what is the proof of that? The government says it is ‘tough on crime’, but data shows crime against Dalits, women and minorities has increased,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Akhilesh also criticised the Uttar Pradesh government’s “bulldozer policy”, alleging that the homes of marginalised sections were disproportionately targeted.
“You talk about the bulldozer as a symbol of law and order. But law and order cannot be maintained through bulldozers. Whose houses have you demolished? Whose homes have you destroyed? Those who were poor and vulnerable, those who had nowhere else to go. There are records of these actions,” he said.
Asked about the Congress’s seat-sharing demands for the upcoming assembly elections, Yadav said the party had sought “one more than 180 seats.”
According to Akhilesh, the theft of donations at the Ram temple will be a major poll issue, with the BJP set to face voters' anger over the issue.
“The devotees are hurt, their vote will show anger,” he said, questioning how the chief minister was unaware of the scale of the alleged misappropriation.The controversy surfaced on June 7 when SP leader Tej Narayan ‘Pawan’ Pandey alleged that donations worth ₹5 crore to ₹7.5 crore had been siphoned off from the temple offerings. The state government constituted an SIT on June 13, following which eight employees associated with the handling and counting of donations were arrested on June 26.
The Supreme Court had intervened in the matter in July and constituted a second SIT. Investigators have identified 105 instances of alleged unauthorised removal or concealment of cash during the counting of donations inside the temple premises, according to the state’s submissions in the top court.