BY MOHAMMAD TARIQUE SALEEM
Akhilesh Yadav, National President of the Samajwadi Party and former Chief Minister, said regarding the Karanda Kataria case in Ghazipur that changing statements does not change the truth. He said Uttar Pradesh has never seen such a weak Chief Minister who pressures poor, helpless victims of severe injustice to alter their statements. Yadav said the questions are : Why was there such a delay in registering the FIR? Why were statements changed? Why is the victim’s family being further harassed? Who stopped action against those dominant groups who even attacked the police with stones? Why are there question marks over the postmortem?
Yadav said the truth is that everyone already knows the reality. Whatever the postmortem report may say, every household in the village knows the ground reality. Everyone knows what happened and what is being made to be said. Because of this, people from every community in the village have understood what he described as the lies of the BJP. He said there is anger and outrage among the PDA community. He further said that the Ghazipur daughter murder case is a repetition of the Hathras daughter murder case.
According to him, both cases have one thing in common: the victims’ families were PDA families, while the oppressors were dominant groups. He asked whether symbolic action could really bring justice to the victim’s family. He said the root cause of such injustice is discrimination in society, and therefore the need is not only for the rule of justice but for the rule of social justice. Yadav said the PDA mission to establish social justice is another movement for “real freedom” after independence.
He described it as a freedom that seeks to change people’s mindset. Equality, he said, is a feeling that can only emerge through genuine affection, not division. The day the distinction between oppressor and oppressed ends, and people sincerely accept equality, will be the day of real freedom. He said they will continue this struggle and win it, whether it takes years or a century. He also said the BJP is a divisive party that gives every incident a caste angle. He accused the party of negativity and falsehood. Referring to the Women’s Reservation Bill passed in 2023, he said the BJP is misleading half the population and running propaganda, and alleged that it is against the Constitution.
At a press conference held at the state headquarters of the Samajwadi Party, he said the BJP does not want to give reservation to women and is spreading confusion. He also accused the BJP of being anti-women and anti-farmer, saying the government has no time to address irrigation canal water shortages or farmers’ issues. He further alleged misuse of power by the government through agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation, and Income Tax Department to pressure and break political parties.
Speaking about Ghazipur, he said BJP leaders are pressuring and tempting the poor family whose daughter lost her life, while police are stationed at their house. He said the Samajwadi Party always stands with people in times of sorrow and pain and helps victims. He cited assistance given to migrant workers during the COVID period and to victims’ families in Mathura and Hathras. Yadav also said NCRB data shows that women and girls are most unsafe under the BJP government, and crimes against women continue to rise.
On the 2027 Assembly elections, he said surveys do not win elections; workers at the booth level do. He claimed the party’s PDA in-charges exposed BJP wrongdoing and predicted a historic Samajwadi Party victory in the 2027 Assembly elections. He also said potato farmers have been ruined under the BJP government, alleging there is no plan for them, that the government has never purchased potatoes from farmers, and has provided them no support.
