BY MOHAMMAD TARIQUE SALEEM
Samajwadi Party National President and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said that the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed in 2023 and has become law. If the government wants, it can implement it in the next election, but the BJP government does not want to enforce women’s reservation. Instead, it is spreading false propaganda against the opposition. He said the BJP is anti-women. At a press conference held at the Samajwadi Party state headquarters in Lucknow, Akhilesh Yadav said that law and order in the state is in very poor condition.
Very tragic incidents are happening with women and girls. He said the Samajwadi Party delegation received a lot of information in Ghazipur. According to him, the Ghazipur police and influential people did not want the truth to come out. For the last nine years, the government, BJP, and administration have been hiding such incidents. In the Ghazipur case, the victim’s father wanted a medical examination, but the proper procedure was not followed, and the cremation was carried out after the post-mortem.
He said similar incidents happened in Hathras and Meerut, where victims’ families did not get justice. In Fatehpur, a Maurya girl was assaulted, but no action was taken against the accused. He said many such incidents are happening under this government. The Chief Minister gives long speeches, but victims have not received justice anywhere. He added that the BJP government wants to hide its failures. According to him, women and girls are the most unsafe under this government, and they are not safe even within the BJP organization itself.
Akhilesh Yadav said that the public is troubled by corruption, loot, and ten years of negative governance by the BJP. He claimed that in the 2027 Assembly elections, the people of Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow, will give a huge majority to the Samajwadi Party. He said the political atmosphere in the state is in favor of the socialists. He said that to make Uttar Pradesh a one-trillion-dollar economy, workers must be respected and given their rights. There should be no discrimination against laborers. He alleged that the BJP government has taken away workers’ rights under the excuse of COVID.
He questioned why workers are not being given wages equal to neighboring states. With inflation rising, he asked how laborers would manage rent, food, family, treatment, and other expenses. He accused the BJP government of exploiting workers in collusion with industrialists. Responding to a question, Akhilesh Yadav said that the Samajwadi Party’s name is inspired by the Constitution. He said the party works to unite everyone, remove discrimination, promote harmony, and uphold composite culture. He added that the party believes in inclusiveness and works for every caste, religion, and section of society.
On the inauguration of the Ganga Expressway, he said it was the socialists who taught how to build expressways and introduced greenfield expressways. He claimed that the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, built under the Samajwadi Party government, remains the best expressway in Uttar Pradesh. He said the Yamuna Expressway was inaugurated during the Samajwadi Party government, and the Purvanchal Expressway was designed under it. He alleged that the Ganga Expressway was built for the earnings of insiders and lacks markets along its route. On the West Bengal elections, Akhilesh Yadav said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would win with historic votes and seats. He said the people of Bengal are voting in large numbers in her favor and accused the BJP of damaging democracy. He alleged that the BJP wants to repeat in Bengal what it did in Rampur and Sambhal.
He further said that the BJP government has ruined the state’s power, health, and education systems. He accused the government of looting the public by repeatedly changing electricity meters. He listed several power projects established during the Samajwadi Party government, including plants in Ghatampur, Panki, Harduaganj, Etah, Ambedkar Nagar, Prayagraj, Jhansi, and Lalitpur. He said prepaid meters are being imposed only to benefit BJP-linked people. According to him, due to public anger and fear of elections, the BJP will have to withdraw smart meters.
He said inflation is at its peak under the BJP government and would rise further after elections. He claimed inflation would come down only when the BJP is removed from power. He added that since 2017, both the central and state BJP governments have made everything expensive. On upcoming surveys for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, he said he has no knowledge of such surveys. He questioned how surveys can be credible when candidates have not even been declared. He said newspapers conduct surveys from time to time to run their business and remarked that the surveys seem like prepaid meters themselves.
He also said the BJP government has damaged the education system, closed many primary schools, and no admissions have taken place in 41,000 primary schools. He said the condition of primary education has worsened badly. Speaking on healthcare, he said poor people are not getting treatment. He claimed that under the Samajwadi government, tests and medicines were free, and promised free treatment again if his party returns to power. He accused the BJP government of ruining the economy by benefiting its own people and alleged widespread fake work and corruption.
He said cancer cases are increasing on a large scale. He claimed that a Cancer Institute was built during the Samajwadi government for testing and research, but the BJP government has ruined it. He alleged that the appointed director spends only one or two hours there and uses the rest of the time for BJP promotion. Finally, Akhilesh Yadav said that the Chief Minister has hired big companies for negative propaganda against the opposition and that people are paid to post messages against opposition parties.
