Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh of misusing the state machinery to instil fear among the people for its narrow political ends, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said the countdown of the Yogi Adityanath government had begun after it celebrated its 30 months in office on Thursday.
“The people of India have for decades defeated the divide and rule politics of the Britishers. The BJP government in UP is pursuing a different politics of creating fear psychosis to attack the people and the opposition leaders through CBI, ED and IT, the latest being the NRC (National Register of Citizens),” he said.
The SP chief said the NRC was being used by the government to instil fear among the poor. He said in Assam, over 70 lakh people had been excluded from the NRC and their fate was uncertain.
The SP chief said, “If NRC was implemented in UP, then he (Yogi Adityanath) will have to return. He is a ‘mool nivaasi’ (resident) of Uttarakhand.”
Yadav said the situation in UP was deteriorating with each passing day and a rape accused BJP leader was arrested after public outcry. He said the UP government must ensure justice to the rape victim in Shahjahanpur case.
A delegation of the senior SP leaders on Friday met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the issue and submitted a memorandum to him.
The SP chief again raised the issue of election through ballot papers, saying that free, fair and transparent polls could be held only by the use of ballot papers.
“We have seen what happened in the elections in Israel and what happened to the present prime minister when voting was held through ballot papers. Even in the US and other countries, elections are held through ballot papers, then why it cannot be held in India?” he asked.
The SP chief reiterated his doubt on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim to make the country a 5 trillion dollar economy. “The economy is facing the worst-ever slowdown, then how he intends to achieve the target. The Modi government remains in denial mode even as every sector is going downwards,” the SP chief said.
Meanwhile, in a setback to Bahujan Samaj Party, two senior leaders of the party from east UP joined the Samajwadi Party here on Friday.
Former BSP state president from Azamgarh, Vijay Bahadur Pal, along with another leader Mithai Lal Bharati of Ballia left the BSP and joined the SP in presence of Akhilesh Yadav.
Pal, who was the BSP state president from 1997 to 2000, said he was disillusioned with the present state of affairs in the BSP and the style of functioning of party chief Mayawati.
“I was left with no option but to leave the BSP and join the SP as I have to support a party which is fighting for the cause of the poor and other backward classes,” he said.
The SP president welcomed both the leaders and their supporters into the party fold. Yadav said now his only aim was to strengthen the party base so that the SP could form government in 2022.