Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said that the Election Commission of India should provide level playing field to all political parties for digital campaign as the opposition parties cannot match the infrastructure controlled by the Bharatiya Janata Party for digital campaign.
“If the Election Commission leans in favour of a virtual campaign for political parties in the UP assembly elections 2022, then the commission should also make it a level-playing field for all the political parties,” the SP chief said in a press conference here on Saturday.
“The Election Commission should give some funds to political parties so that they may create a set-up and infrastructure because we cannot compete with the BJP infrastructure. So we appeal that EC should get the political parties some funds from the government so that in the democratic set-up all political parties who do not have strong set-up like BJP’s should be able to compete.”
Akhilesh Yadav’s request to the Election Commission came in response to a question on the SP’s preparedness to run a digital campaign if the poll panel backed the suggestion that political parties should hold virtual campaign. The Election Commission has banned all kind of activities for people mobilisation till January 15.
Akhilesh Yadav also announced that his party would repeat its free laptop scheme of the 2012 manifesto if the SP returned to power in 2022.
“It will be the second promise after the first promise of free 300 units power to all domestic consumers and free power to farmers for irrigation. As the SP government did in its previous rule, if the party forms the government in 2022, then it will again give laptops to youth and students for higher studies. Earlier we had given lakhs of laptops which led many of the beneficiaries to get self-employed,” he said.
Akhilesh Yadav has already promised free 300 units free electricity to domestic consumers and free power to farmers for irrigation, a caste census in the state, Rs 25 lakh to the families of those farmers who died in the farmers’ agitation, Rs 5 lakh to those cyclists who die in a road accident and Rs 5 lakh to those who die in bull attack.
Akhilesh Yadav also said his party’s legal cell would file an FIR against BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya , who posted his photograph and claimed that the perfume trader Piyush Jain recently raided by tax authorities in Kanpur was standing with him.
“BJP is making false propaganda against the SP. We will file an FIR now, and act against the person when we form the government. Because if anyone says anything against me, no action is taken but if anyone says anything against the BJP leader, then immediate action is taken,” the SP chief said.
About the Uttar Pradesh government’s advertisement campaign, Akhilesh reiterated: “A government campaigns about its positive works, but here the government is doing a party's campaign on government expense. When the time comes, we will act against the government people and ad agencies involved in all this”.
Akhilesh also said that Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance was firm and seat-sharing with alliance partners had been decided and would be announced after the election notification.