Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has asked party cadre to brace themselves for the 2022 UP assembly elections, cautioning them that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party could stoop to any level and employ all possible tricks to win the polls.
Addressing members of the SP national executive in Lucknow on Saturday, Akhilesh said the historic victory of Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi elections in February this rear was a whiff of fresh air that strengthened the belief that elections could be won on development work and people-friendly measures.
“However, development will not be a central issue in UP assembly elections and the BJP will play the politics of bigotry to divide people on the lines of caste and religion. So we have to prepare ourselves accordingly,” he said.
“We have to be ready for a long haul. We can sustain ourselves in politics and become a strong claimant for power in 2022 only with struggle and agitation. Samajwadis have sustained themselves in politics only on the fight against injustice and tyranny of state power,”’ the SP chief said.
Akhilesh also sought to play the caste card, saying, “If the SP is voted to power in 2022, the state government will conduct caste-based census in UP. There is a huge imbalance in reservation for different castes and communities. The caste-based census will ensure fixed quota for each caste as per their demographic share.”
The political resolution adopted by the Samajwadi Party executive criticised the present caste-based system and said that 85 per cent population comprising Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes was getting only 50 per cent reservation while 15 per cent upper castes were getting 50 per cent which was far more than their due share.
Reiterating his opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (ACC), National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), Akhilesh said that none from the party would fill the NPR form.
He said that NPR and NRC were highly discriminatory against poor and marginalised sections and the government must roll back the CAA.
The SP chief also criticised the ordinance promulgated by Governor on Friday providing for recovery of damages to public and private property from the protesters.
“The UP government has brought the ordinance to defend itself as it had no reply to questions raised by Supreme Court as to under which law it had put up hoardings carrying photos and addresses of anti-CAA protesters,” the SP chief said.
Akhilesh also attacked the Yogi Adityanath government for the detention of party MP Mohammad Azam Khan and Dr Kafeel Khan, saying that both were being victimised by the BJP government for political reasons.