LUCKNOW: After getting re-elected as Samajwadi Party (SP) chief for the third time, former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, on Thursday, accused the BJP of usurping power in UP by the misuse of official machinery and called upon party workers to remove it from power in the 2024 general elections.
The SP chief also exhorted the cadre to work hard and help SP attain the national party status in the next five years fulfilling the dream of party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Akhilesh got re-elected by the party unanimously on the concluding day of the party’s two-day national convention in the absence of party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and senior leader and Rampur MLA Azam Khan as both of them are unwell.
He was elected as SP for the first time in Lucknow on January 1, 2017, deposing his father and SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. The second time, he was unanimously re-elected as the national president on October 5, 2017, in the national convention held in Agra.
Addressing a gathering of party workers on the occasion, the SP chief levelled serious allegations against the ruling BJP and also the Election Commission of India (ECI) while speaking over the 2022 assembly poll results. While he accused the BJP of snatching power by using every trick up its sleeves whereas the real mandate was in favour of the SP, charged ECI with playing into the hands of
ruling party.
“This is not a government elected by the people of UP. They had voted for the SP in the 2022 assembly polls but the BJP snatched away the power and installed its own government with malpractices and misuse of the official machinery,” said the SP chief substantiating his claim by citing the overwhelming support he was getting at his poll rallies.
“They did this because the exit from Uttar Pradesh would have led to their exit from the Centre as well. That is why they did all that they could,” said Akhilesh explaining his charge.
On the other, taking on the ECI, the SP chief said that an institution he had the highest faith in, also let the SP down. He accused the loll panel of playing into the hands of the BJP by “colluding” with the booth in charge of the ruling party.
Akhilesh also charged the ECI with striking off the names of at least 20,000 voters in the constituencies dominated by Yadavs and Muslims.
During his speech, the SP chief exhorted his cadre to become very strong at the booth level in order to meet the challenge posed by the BJP. While resolving to continue the struggle against the BJP governments in UP and at the Centre, he asked his workers to be ready to fill the jails to save the democracy and the Constitution which was in danger.
“Samajwadis do not fear struggle and to get justice, we have to take to the streets this is what Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) always told us,” said Yadav.
Calling the BJP leaders liars and propagandists, the SP chief asked the party workers to pray to Goddess Durga during the ongoing Navratri festival to stop the BJP leaders from lying.
Akhilesh Yadav extended his gratitude to the party for the trust it had shown in him. “It is not just a post, but a great responsibility. I assure you that for the responsibility that you have given me, even if I have to devote every day of life and every moment to work and struggle, I will.”