Virtually sounding the poll bugle for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Sunday that his party would work to "reduce the BJP's vote by 27,000" in every assembly constituency.
Speaking to reporters in Lucknow, Yadav said, "We held a meeting with party office-bearers today. We all have decided to work towards increasing our vote count by 27,000 in every Assembly Constituency by 2027. In other words, reducing the BJP's vote count by 27,000.
"To achieve this, we will need to utilise technology, visit people at their homes to listen to them and understand their concerns, and speak about securing justice and dignity. We will continue to work on this together," Yadav told reporters at the party office in Lucknow.
Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to be held in 2027.
Yadav also said 151 statues of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar had been damaged across 72 districts of Uttar Pradesh during the BJP government's tenure, but only 14 arrests had been made so far.
He alleged that the vandalism was deliberate because the BJP wanted to change the Constitution but failed to do so.
"Statues of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar have been damaged the most. Under the BJP government, over 151 (Ambedkar statues) have been damaged or vandalised in 72 districts," Yadav said.
"This was done deliberately because they (the BJP) wanted to change the Constitution but failed to do so. That is why whenever the BJP and those who share its ideology attack, the first thing they target is a hand-held copy of the Constitution," he said.
Yadav said the Samajwadi Party had documented 151 such cases. "In all, we have been able to document 151 cases. If we calculate the average, more than 15 statues were damaged annually under this government. There may be undocumented and uncounted cases too," he said.
Citing government figures, Yadav said arrests had been made in only 14 cases. In 45 instances, cases were registered against unknown persons, while a named FIR was lodged in eight. In 84 cases, no action was taken.
The BJP government neither respects Ambedkar, his statues, nor his people, Yadav said.
Later, the Samajwadi Party posted a district-wise breakdown on X.
Citing media reports, the post said Ambedkar statues were attacked in Ballia (9); Azamgarh (6); and Mathura, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur (5 each). Ghazipur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Prayagraj, Lucknow and Varanasi recorded four cases each. Two statues were damaged in Gorakhpur, which stood 21st on the list.
The party said that in 85% of cases, no police action was initiated against the "feudalistic anarchic elements". It said 46 Ambedkar statues were damaged during the first tenure of the Yogi Adityanath government, while 105 were vandalised during its second term.
In a year-wise breakdown, the post said four statues were damaged in 2022, 12 in 2023, 13 in 2024, 29 in 2025 and 47 in 2026.
(With inputs from PTI)