Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday slammed the BJP-led union government for allegedly betraying PDA (Pichhde, Dalit and Alpasankhyak) families and said that the PDA will defeat the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
“PDA is going to defeat NDA. As far as ‘Pariwarwaad’ is concerned, I want the BJP to take a resolution that they will neither give a ticket to ‘pariwar wale’ nor take votes from ‘pariwar wale’. They (the BJP) cannot even take the name of the INDIA alliance properly. The spelling of India is INDIA; what is INDI? The people who came in 2014 will be gone in 2024,” he said while addressing a press conference with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Hitting out at the ruling government over the electoral bond scheme, the SP leader said that the BJP has been the 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,” Akhilesh said.
He further said that the INDIA alliance is the new hope in the elections, adding that the day when the farmers start getting remunerative prices for their crop and the day the Indian government increases the income of the farmers, poverty will 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 said.
Extending his wishes to the people of 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.”
Voting in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases.
The Ghaziabad seat will witness a triangular contest. The BJP has declared Atul Garg as its candidate from the Ghaziabad constituency after Union Minister and the sitting BJP MP from Ghaziabad, Gen (retd) VK Singh, withdrew himself from the fray for the Lok Sabha polls.
Garg is set to face the INDIA bloc candidate and Congress leader Dolly Sharma, while the Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded Nand Kishore Pundir.
In the 2019 general elections, proving all the arithmetic of the SP-BSP ‘mahagatbandhan’ in Uttar Pradesh wrong, the BJP and its ally Apna Dal(S) won 64 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats. The SP-BSP won 15 seats.