BY MOHAMMAD TARIQUE SALEEM
With the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections approaching, political confrontation and welfare pledges have intensified. Samajwadi Party national president and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today mounted a scathing critique of the Yogi Adityanath administration’s management of public healthcare. Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, Yadav unveiled what he termed a “Samajwadi Audit” of the state’s medical infrastructure. He asserted that healthcare services had deteriorated alarmingly, placing the Health Department itself “on a ventilator.”
Despite compulsory health cards, he alleged, the indigent continue to face charges and inadequate facilities. Should the Samajwadi Party assume power in 2027, Yadav declared, impoverished patients would receive free treatment without any card requirement. “Treatment must take precedence over bureaucratic formalities,” he insisted, promising substantially enhanced care for life-threatening conditions such as cancer.
Yadav further claimed severe staffing shortages: one government doctor per 16,189 residents, 6,895 vacant medical posts (over 11 per cent of sanctioned strength), and more than 24,000 unfilled nursing and paramedical positions. Similar vacancies, he said, persist at AIIMS Gorakhpur and Raebareli, while 15-16 primary health centres in the Chief Minister’s home district of Gorakhpur have been diminished or lost-raising questions about the statewide system.
Turning to political strategy, Yadav dismissed opponents’ apprehension of the PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) mobilisation, describing it as progressive and visionary. He mocked rival interpretations of the acronym and asserted that attempts to fracture the alliance only strengthen the party’s resolve. On sports, Yadav pledged consultations with athletes and the creation of modern, technology-enabled, world-class infrastructure.
Mountaineer Sagar Kasana, who joined the party, noted that populous Uttar Pradesh ranks merely seventh nationally in sporting achievement, citing shortages of coaches and facilities. Yadav also criticised rising prices of sugar, petrol and other essentials, alongside fertiliser shortages for farmers. Under a proposed “Daam Baandho” policy, an SP government would regulate and reduce commodity costs.
He urged vigilance against any pre-election Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and responded to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s remarks by invoking the Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre controversy in satirical vein. Several leaders from the BSP, BJP and AIMIM, including former MLAs Ram Shiromani Shukla and Hemraj Verma, AIMIM national spokesperson Dr Abdul Mannan, and other local representatives, formally joined the Samajwadi Party. Yadav welcomed them, expressing confidence that their induction would fortify the organisation ahead of 2027.
