Only Mamata truly countering BJP in India: Akhilesh Yadav

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday hailed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the only opposition leader in the entire India who is “effectively countering the BJP”, and said that the saffron camp is now aiming for a “respectable defeat” in the upcoming State elections.

Yadav, accompanied by his party's senior leader Kiranmoy Nanda, met Banerjee at the State secretariat Nabanna amid a charged political atmosphere in the poll-bound state over the controversial SIR exercise, and lauded the TMC supremo for her “courage in countering the BJP's onslaughts”.

“If in the entire country, someone is effectively countering the BJP, it is West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. And the BJP can only be truly opposed by the way she is doing it,” the former Uttar Pradesh CM told reporters after the meeting, which lasted for about 40 minutes, with Banerjee standing next to him.

Yadav's statement assumes significance in the wake of several regional parties, which are partners in the anti-BJP nation-wide INDIA alliance, having in the past alleged “big-brotherly attitude” against the platform's biggest constituent, the Congress. Yadav's comment on Tuesday, political observers said, was not only an applause for Banerjee's political stance but also an indirect barb against the Congress, which has failed to post notable poll victories against the saffron camp since the 2024 general elections. The former UP CM alleged that the BJP was in cahoots with the EC in conducting the SIR exercise, which aimed at destroying the secular fabric of India. “The BJP's fight here is a fight for defeat; they only want to embrace defeat with a bit of respect,” he said.

Asserting that Banerjee would continue to receive people's support in her fight against the BJP, Yadav extended his party's aid to the TMC's endeavour in Bengal.

“I believe that the secular forces, the brotherhood we share that forms the identity of this nation, will come out on top.

The BJP is playing with secularism, and that too in cahoots with the EC, which is a constitutional body. We are happy that Didi defeated the ED, and she will emerge victorious against the BJP as well. She has our full support,” he said.

Referring to the EC's roll revision exercise in Uttar Pradesh, where nearly 2.89 crore voters were deleted from the draft rolls, the SP leader alleged that attempts are being made to implement the NRC in the garb of SIR, and harass people.

“The SIR is devised to inflict maximum suffering on people ahead of the polls. It's a different matter whether SIR was truly implemented in Bihar. But the fact is SIR was created for West Bengal,” Yadav claimed.

“It is the responsibility of the EC to ensure that votes are increased and encourage more and more voters to exercise their franchise. But for the first time, we observe that the Commission and the BJP are trying to implement NRC in the garb of SIR and are harassing the common people with the express goal of reducing votes,” he added.

Akhilesh, along with his wife and party's Lok Sabha MP Dimple Yadav, arrived in Kolkata on Monday to attend a family function, and referred to Banerjee recently storming the Enforcement Directorate's raid venues of I-PAC office and its director Pratik Jain's residence on January 8 to hit out at the BJP.

“Didi has defeated the ED. We are certain that she will now defeat the BJP again,” he said.

“The BJP has not yet been able to forget the pains of losing the pen drive,” Yadav added at Nabanna, in a purported reference to the electronic devices the chief minister had come out with from the agency's search operation premises during the raids, alleging that the agency was trying to access sensitive TMC information connected to the upcoming polls.

He maintained that Banerjee saved the state from a “digital dacoity the agency was trying to commit”.

“Mamata Banerjee speaks of love and brotherhood while the BJP speaks of divisiveness. The BJP, through SIR, is not trying to enhance its votes; it is trying to slash the votes of its opponents. We expected a Constitutional body like the EC to remain neutral while conducting this exercise. But our experiences in States like Bengal, Bihar and UP are telling us that this is just a means to reduce the number of voters,” Yadav said.

What the BJP forgets is that Bengal is not just a political unit; it is more a cultural unit from where messages of universal humanism and unity were spread, he said, adding that hate mongers will not succeed here.

Earlier in the day, the SP chief, accompanied by his wife and SP's Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan, offered prayers at the Kalighat Temple.