BY MOHAMMAD TARIQUE SALEEM
Samajwadi Party national president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has launched a broad attack on the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that education, competitive examinations, healthcare, policing and the agricultural sector have suffered serious setbacks during its tenure. Addressing a press conference at the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Auditorium at the Samajwadi Party state headquarters in Lucknow on Saturday, Yadav alleged that the state had witnessed repeated paper leaks over the past decade and accused the government of failing to protect the integrity of examinations and recruitment.
He further alleged that school education had deteriorated and that discrimination and exploitation of teachers had become widespread. Yadav said the Samajwadi Party would include the demands of teachers working in unaided schools, Shiksha Mitras (contractual teaching assistants) and other sections of the education sector, along with the issue of restoration of the old pension scheme, in its election manifesto.
Yadav alleged that the BJP government had also damaged the systems of education, healthcare and policing. Referring to observations made by the Supreme Court after examining the functioning of the administration and police over the past decade, he alleged that the state police were acting under political pressure. He cited allegations of fake encounters, deaths in police custody, false criminal cases and harassment of citizens, while saying that complaints against the police continued to emerge.
Yadav also raised concerns over farmers, young people and traders. He alleged that farmers were struggling to obtain fertilisers, seeds and pesticides on time. Recalling measures taken during previous Samajwadi Party governments, he said farmers had benefited from free irrigation, electricity and other support. He also referred to the loan waivers implemented during the tenure of the party’s governments. Questioning the government’s approach to farmers’ debt, Yadav asked why relief could not be provided to farmers when loans of large industrialists and corporate borrowers could be waived.
He said the Samajwadi Party’s forthcoming election manifesto would contain measures concerning farmers, young people, teachers, women and other sections of society. Yadav also criticised Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s approach towards technology and the younger generation, alleging that his thinking was conservative and that the government wanted to keep students and young people away from mobile phones, laptops and the internet.
He said the new generation of young people had a modern outlook, remained positive and wanted development. Yadav also accused what he described as “underground tunnel-oriented elements” associated with the BJP of spreading poison within society, while claiming that students and young people were responding to what he termed the BJP government’s wrong policies and actions.
Turning to healthcare, Yadav alleged that hospitals across Uttar Pradesh themselves needed treatment. He claimed that patients were not receiving adequate medical care and alleged that ambulance services as well as hospitals had deteriorated under the BJP government. With the next Uttar Pradesh Assembly election approaching, Yadav called upon party leaders and workers to intensify preparations at the booth level. He said their first and foremost objective should be to ensure that voter lists were accurate and properly maintained.
Yadav said the Samajwadi Party had given its leaders and workers a target of increasing its vote share by 27,000 votes in every Assembly constituency. He claimed that if the party succeeded in adding 27,000 genuine votes while “fake votes” were removed from the electoral rolls, the BJP would face a major setback in the election. The press conference brought education, examination integrity, employment, farmers’ concerns, healthcare, policing and electoral-roll management into sharp focus as the Samajwadi Party intensifies its preparations for the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly election.
