If the Bharatiya Janata Party can win over 300 seats in Uttar Pradesh by “spreading lies”, then with honest hard work, truth and by bringing people together, “we can win 351 seats” in 2022, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said on Sunday.
Pointing out that a palm reader had recently predicted that he would win 350 of the 403 seats in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Yadav said if the SP was voted to power, his government would hold a caste-wise census.
Addressing the media a day after his party’s national executive meeting here, Yadav said his party colleagues had vowed to win 351 of the 403 seats in UP assembly. He said that in the 2022 UP assembly polls, his party would have no alliance but could go for some seat adjustments with like-minded parties.
“In the 2022 assembly polls, the SP will not have pre-roll alliance like the past elections but will have some seat adjustments with like-minded parties,” he said, refusing to name any party saying it was too early.
“Our target is big. I have quoted a number that nobody can imagine. Even we had not imagined that the BJP would win more than 300 seats,” Yadav said.
In the 2017 UP assembly polls, the BJP and its allies had won 325 seats propelling Yogi Adityanath to the chief minister’s seat. The SP, which was in power, managed only 47 seats while the BSP and the Congress trailed even further.
On Sunday, several former leaders of the Bahujan Samaj Party and Bharatiya Janta Party joined the Samajwadi Party.
Yadav said that with the support of his new colleagues, “we won’t fall into any net” woven by the BJP.
Rejecting the BJP’s slogan of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas Sabka Vishwas’ as fake, the former chief minister said the SP slogan would be real as it was taking people together.
Asked about Yogi Adityanath government’s decision to bring an ordinance for recovery of damages to public and private property during protests, Yadav said in the backdrop of the observations made by the Allahabad High Court and the Supreme Court, the government’s move was an admission that it was doing illegal acts.
“Even the High Court and the Supreme Court have censured the state government, terming the act of putting up hoarding of anti-CAA protesters as illegal but this government was acting like a dictator,” he said.
“The government is doing an illegal act, the cabinet decision has proven this. This government does not care about the High Court or the Supreme Court,” he said.
“Why does the government forget that so many people sitting in government have instigated riots. You tell me, in the history of UP, has any chief minister withdrawn riot cases against himself?” he asked, targeting Yogi Adityanath, who as head of the state has withdrawn cases lodged against him.
The SP chief also announced that his party would not contest the Bihar assembly polls and party MLAs would support the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh,
Meanwhile, several senior leaders of BSP, including former parliamentarians and legislators from Azamgarh and Bundelkhand region, joined the SP.