Pilibhit has decided to defeat BJP: Akhilesh Yadav

Pilibhit has decided to defeat BJP: Akhilesh Yadav

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said Friday that the BJP government at the Centre scrapped the three ''black'' farm laws after realising the strength of the farmers and inflation has been caused due to the ''money extorted by the BJP through electoral bonds''.

At a rally here in the support of party candidate Bhagwat Saran Gangwar, Yadav also said the people of Pilibhit have made up their mind to defeat the BJP and that the saffron party is scared.

''The faces of the BJP people turn pale (peela) on hearing the name of Pilibhit,'' Yadav said.

This is the first political rally of Yadav in Uttar Pradesh after the polls were announced. He started his campaign after releasing the poll manifesto in Lucknow on Wednesday.

The former chief minister also attacked the BJP government over the issue of electoral bonds and demonetisation.

''Tell me whether this electoral bond and the demonetisation are not the ways to turn black money into white. They have turned all their black money into white,'' he alleged.

Yadav attacked the state government for trying to crush the protest called by the farmers against the farm laws.

''Those who were trying to suppress the protest against the farm laws are being given respect by the BJP,'' said Yadav.

''The people who were talking in favour of the farmers... were turned back and those who ran a Thar (SUV) over the farmers were given respect by the BJP,'' Yadav said, apparently referring to the BJP MP from Pilibhit Varun Gandhi who was denied a ticket by his party this time.

Varun Gandhi had raised the issue of farmer's protest and employment for youths on several occasions in the recent past.

The statement also was a hint at Union Minister of State of Home Ajay Mishra Teni, who is a BJP MP from the adjoining Kheri district. Teni's son Ashish Mishra was accused of ploughing his SUV over the protesting farmers in Khiri in 2021. The BJP has again made Teni its candidate from Kheri.

Hitting out at Jitin Prasada, the BJP candidate from Pilibhit, Akhilesh said, ''A new candidate has come who says that had he known (that he would contest from the seat), he would have made this place Mumbai. I want to say that don't make it Mumbai but do some work here that is done in Mumbai.'' He (Prasada) was made the PWD minister and all records of corruption were broken by his department, Yadav alleged.

Prasada, at a public meeting during his campaign here earlier this month, had said, ''Had I known that I will have to contest the election from here, I would have made Mumbai out of this area. What do you think?'' Prasada joined the BJP in 2021. He earlier was in the Congress.

Cornering the BJP on the issue of electoral bonds, Yadav said, ''Tell me extortion is being done in the name of electoral bonds or not. The government has taken bonds from companies with no profit. They have done extortion by using the ED and the CBI to scare the big industrialist.'' The same BJP people had said there will be no corruption after demonetisation. Electoral bonds are a tool to convert black money into white. The BJP changed the black money into white in demonetisation and then by electoral bonds.

''Inflation has been caused by the amount of money extorted by this government. The BJP people are responsible for this. I want to say that the BJP came in 2014 and will go in 2024,'' said Yadav.

The SP chief also criticised the Agnipath scheme of recruitment in armed forces.

''We can never accept the Agniveer arrangement. In these four years of service as an Agniveer, neither our youth are getting respect nor our borders are being secured because the government is not getting a strong force,'' he said, reiterating that they will scrap the scheme after coming to power.

He went on to warn the police personnel that if the BJP is elected to power again, the service duration of the police personnel in UP will be reduced to three years.

He also mentioned the recent incidents of exam paper leaks in UP and attacked the state government.

''The BJP is losing 2.25 lakh voters in every Lok Sabha constituency because of the exam papers leaked by their government,'' Yadav said.

Mentioning the recent arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren, Yadav said, ''They say that they will win 400 seats but are so scared that they have sent the CM of Delhi and Jharkhand to jail. They feel scared and are taking people of all kinds, including the mafia on their side,'' he alleged.

Yadav alleged that the BJP has indulged in the maximum extortion in the country. They have waived off the loans of the big industrialists but not those of the farmers, he said.

''We will waive off the loans of the farmers after coming to power. The PDA (Backward, Dalit and Minorities) will defeat the NDA,'' he said.

In a direct attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for calling INDIA bloc ''Indi alliance,'' Yadav said, ''The PM feels shame in taking the name of India. We now even have to say that it is India.'' Gangwar is pitted against Prasada of the BJP and Anis Ahmed of the BSP in this seat.

Prasada was given a ticket overlooking sitting MP Varun Gandhi from the seat. The SP, Congress and All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) are contesting the polls in UP as part of the INDIA bloc.

The Pilibhit seat, which has over 18 lakh voters, will go to the polls in the first round of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections on April 19.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)