In the run-up to Lok Sabha polls, the Samajwadi Party in its manifesto announced to levy a tax of 2 per cent on upper caste elites having wealth of more than Rs 2.5 crore. The party said that the measure would help in bridging economic disparity.
The SP also promised total farm loan waiver along with one lakh jobs every year.
The document was released by party president Akhilesh Yadav at the SP headquarters in Lucknow but patron Mulayam Singh Yadav was conspicuous by his absence.
With the likely consolidation of OBC, SC and Muslim voters behind the BSP-SP-RLD alliance, the Samajwadi Party adopted strident posture against the upper caste in a bid to project itself as a messiah of backwards.
Ever since its inception in 1992, the Samajwadi Party has been known for championing the cause of minorities but thought it prudent not to mention ‘minority’ and make any specific promise for the community.
The SP vision document, however, said that the party would review the Kashmir policy besides fighting for equal rights for women.
The 16-page document carrying pictures of Akhilesh Yadav, his father and SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav, read ‘Samajik nyay se mahaparivartan: Ek nayi disha, ek nayi ummeed’ with Ram Manohar Lohia’s quote: “The fight against poverty is a farce till there is discrimination on the basis of caste and gender.”
Hitting out at upper caste groups, the SP chief said that 10 per cent of the total population owned more than 60 per cent of the country’s wealth.
The SP vision document has come after the government announced 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections of the upper castes.
The SP document aims to mobilise Dalits, OBCs and Muslims. The first page of the vision document reads, ‘Enough is enough’, under which the party said that the privileged dismissed them as casteist. “The elite and the rich dismiss us as power hungry. These are all lies designed to maintain and perpetuate oppressive power structures to benefit a few,” the document reads.
The vision document speaks about growth, education, employment, infrastructure, golden revolution, national security, internal security, clean energy and equal rights for women.
The SP also proposes to raise an ‘Ahir Armoured Regiment’ and a ‘Gujarat Infantry Regiment’. It also proposes a ban on political messaging that uses Armed forces in any form.
“Samajwadi Party will prevent political misuse of the defence forces and Army as national security has nothing to do with nationalism. Nationalism is a pseudo concept of the BJP and it should not be linked with national security,” the vision document says.