LUCKNOW: Recalling the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said farmers would not get justice as long as the BJP's 'triple-engine' government remains in power.
Along with the BJP-run governments at the centre and in Uttar Pradesh, Yadav counted as the third engine Union Minister Ajay mishra, whose son Ashish Mishra was arrested last month after an SUV carrying BJP workers allegedly crushed four farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Yadav's comments came during his speech at the 'Janadesh Maharally' held in Ambedkarnagar district, where he formally inducted senior BSP leaders Lalji Verma and Ramachal Rajbhar in the SP.
Verma was the leader of BSP legislature party in the state assembly and Rajbhar State chief of BSP before they were expelled by the BSP for "anti-party" activities.
In 2017 UP Assembly elections, Verma had won from Katehari seat, while Rajbhar had won from Akbarpur Assembly constituency.
Yadav said the Kheri incident was unforgettable, and that the tragedy was the doing of the center and the state, which were assisted in it by Ajay Mishra, who hails from the town.
Yadav said, "The farmers are our backbone, who give support to the economy, and are our 'annadata', but the BJP government has cheated them and has done injustice to them."
He went on to attack in particular 'Ujjwala Yojana', the Prime Minister's flagship scheme for distribution of LPG cylinders to poor households.
"Due to price rise, the 'Ujjwala Yojana' has become 'bujwalla' (a damp squib)yojana. And our 'Baba Chief Minister' sometimes is afraid of red colour. Our CM in order to reduce the price rise can change the colour of the cylinder or its name," he said.
Yadav said the recent slashing in prices of petrol and diesel was owing to the BJP's loss in by-polls, and said they will come down further still if they lose the UP assembly election.
He stressed the coming election in the state were crucial for democracy, and invoked Dr BR Ambedkar to say the country needs to be run according to the constitution as drafted by the founding fathers.
"This is also an election to save democracy and the Constitution."
Yadav said the country got a bad reputation around the world because of the BJP's "poor handling of COVID-19 pandemic."
He sharpened his attack against the current chief minister for his promise to distribute laptops to students, saying the world has moved on since and people are carrying computers in their pockets in form of phones.
He exhorted people to not look up to a leader who doesn't know how to operate a laptop -- referring apparently to Adityanath.
He also challenged the government to reveal the figures for number of laptops distributed in last four and half years the BJP has been in power in the state.
The SP chief lambasted the government for highlighting its achievement in generating employment through ads in Delhi and asked people how many of them got any jobs.
He claimed that if the SP was in power, the Purvanchal Expressway would have been completed in less time, and said the BJP government could never finish the Agra-Lucknow Expressway in four-and-half years.
Yadav also hit out at the disinvestment policies of the BJP-run union government and likened them with those of the East India Company's.
"What will happen to our rights? They are playing at the hands of the industrialists," he said.