Ex-Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav criticized the BJP-led central government on Wednesday, accusing it of betraying the PDA (Pichhde , Dalit, and Alpasankhyak) communities. He asserted that the PDA would defeat the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the elections.
“PDA will defeat NDA. Regarding ‘Pariwarwaad’, I urge the BJP to resolve not to give tickets to ‘pariwar wale’ or accept votes from them. They can’t even pronounce the INDIA alliance correctly. The correct spelling is INDIA, not INDI. Those who arrived in 2014 will depart in 2024,” he stated during a press conference alongside Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Criticizing the current government’s electoral bond scheme, the SP leader labeled the BJP as a warehouse of corrupt leaders.
“‘Electoral bond ne inka band baja diya…BJP sabhi bhrashtachiroya ka godaam ban gayi’ (BJP has become the warehouse of all corrupt leaders). They are not only taking corrupt people (in their party) but also keeping the money earned by the corrupt,” stated Akhilesh. He added that the INDIA alliance represents a new hope in the elections, emphasizing that once farmers begin receiving fair prices for their produce and the Indian government enhances the farmers’ incomes, poverty will be go away.
“INDIA alliance is the new hope in the elections and as Rahul ji said that there are many things in his manifesto by which poverty can be eradicated. Adding to that I want to say that the day the farmers of our country will become happy, the day the farmers of the country will start getting remunerative prices for their crops, I understand that all the political parties and especially those who are the partners of INDIA alliance are saying that they will give MSP and the day the Indian government increases the income of the farmers, poverty will go away,” the SP chief stated.
Extending his wishes on the occasion of Ram Navami, he said, “I want to extend my best wishes to everyone on the occasion of Ram Navami. I am happy that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the Samajwadi Party are doing a press conference together. Today, we are in Ghaziabad and this time INDIA alliance will wipe out BJP from Ghaziabad to Ghazipur. Today, farmers are upset as all the promises of BJP turned out to be fake.”
The electoral process in Uttar Pradesh is scheduled to occur over seven phases. A triangular contest is anticipated for the Ghaziabad seat. Following the withdrawal of Union Minister and sitting BJP MP from Ghaziabad, Gen (retd) VK Singh, the BJP has nominated Atul Garg as its candidate for the Ghaziabad constituency in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Garg is set to compete against the INDIA bloc’s nominee and Congress leader Dolly Sharma, with the Bahujan Samaj Party nominating Nand Kishore Pundir. In the 2019 general elections, the BJP and its partner Apna Dal(S) secured 64 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, defying the predictions based on the SP-BSP alliance’s calculations. The SP-BSP alliance managed to win 15 seats.
