Akhilesh slams Centre over student protests in Delhi

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday accused the Centre of functioning with arrogance instead of democratic values and said pressure on the student protesters will not work, urging the government to admit its “mistake” and start dialogue.

He also took a swipe at the BJP government, claiming its understanding of “accountability” refers to the “ability to fill accounts” in the context of the ongoing probe into the alleged Ram temple donation theft.

Talking to reporters at the Lucknow airport after returning from New Delhi, Yadav accused the BJP governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh of failing to ensure fair examinations.

He further said repeated paper leaks had jeopardised the future of lakhs of students and claimed the government itself had acknowledged irregularities by conducting the (NEET) re-examination.

“The matter is absolutely clear. The government should accept the demands of students and youth. The minister himself admitted that there were irregularities in the (NEET) examination and that the paper was leaked. That is why the examination had to be conducted again,” Yadav said. He alleged that the re-examination was proof that the authorities had failed to conduct the test fairly.

“I don’t know how many children’s futures have been jeopardised. Paper leaks are not happening for the first time. There seems to be a competition between the Government of India and the Uttar Pradesh government over who can have more paper leaks,” Yadav said.

Claiming that paper leaks were being orchestrated rather than occurring accidentally, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, “These papers are not merely getting leaked, they are being made to leak so that students do not get jobs. Along with employment, the issue of reservation is also linked.

Yadav said the Samajwadi Party would continue to raise the issue in the legislature until the Union education minister resigned.

“We will continue to raise our voice in the House until the minister resigns. The demands of the families of those children who lost their lives should also be accepted,” he said.

Asked about the government’s refusal to concede the protesters’ demands, Yadav accused it of functioning with arrogance instead of democratic values.

“This is not a government, it is arrogance. They are running the government with arrogance. In a democracy, the government should listen to the people, understand what they want and at least hold talks with them. A solution can emerge through dialogue,” he said.

“It is the government’s responsibility. If the government resorts to injustice and tries to exert pressure, that pressure will not work. The government should accept its mistake and hold talks. It was because of its own mistake that the examination had to be conducted again,” Yadav added.

When asked about the alleged Ram temple donation theft in Ayodhya, the Samajwadi Party chief said the immediate focus should remain on the paper leak issue.

“Right now, the discussion is only about the paper leak. The issue of the donation box theft has not come up yet. The offerings have been made by devotees with faith. The serious wrongdoing in that matter has only begun to be discussed. Let the paper leak issue conclude first, then we will speak on that as well,” he said.

Taking a swipe at the BJP government, Yadav said, “What is this government’s accountability? They seem to think accountability only means the ability to fill accounts. That is the way the Uttar Pradesh government functions. They mistake the ability to fill accounts for accountability,” he alleged.