Farmers Movement Archive

BJP’s “double-engine” colliding: Akhilesh

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said the “double-engine” government of the BJP had “failed” with its engines colliding against each other, accusing it of disappointing farmers and the jobless youth in Uttar Pradesh. “Under the BJP government, income has come down by half, inflation went up by double. Had farmers not toiled despite Covid, the country’s economy had been even worse,” he alleged.“BJP’s MPs, MLAs are not allowed entry in villages for their failure and this double engine government’s engines are colliding head-on with each other,” he told reporters at the press conference he held at the helipad soon after he arrived in Jaunpur for his two-day (Tuesday and Wednesday) visit to resume his “rath yatra” poll campaign.“The farmers will never forget the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. First, this government introduced three black farm laws, then insulted the agitating farmers. Over 700 farmers lost their lives in the agitation. And then looking at the elections in UP and Punjab, the government withdrew the black laws. So many farmers would not have lost their lives had this government listened to us and the farmers. BJP people mowed down farmers by SUVs,” he further alleged. Adding to Akhilesh’s comment, SP state spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said: “Akhilesh ji had been demanding the dismissal of the MoS (home) since day one”. Moreover, the SP leader also alleged that chief minister Yogi Adityanath did not take a dip in the Ganga in Varanasi on Monday because he knew that the river was “dirty”. He also alleged that all the money meant for the cleaning of rivers flowed down the drain and all the rivers in the state —Ganga, Yamuna, Hindon or Gomti—were dirty.“Out of his intelligence and wisdom, our chief minister (Yogi Adityanath) did not take a dip in the Maa Ganga (the river Ganga) for the river is dirty,” Akhilesh said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken a dip in the Ganga in Varanasi before he inaugurated the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor on Monday. “Someone was getting photographed (Modi) while someone else stood by the sidelines watching. Imagine someone who has to be the ‘groom’ in the (UP) elections stood aside,” he alleged. A dip in the Ganga by PM Modi was one of the highlights of the KV Corridor inauguration event. When asked about PM Modi’s breaking bread with labourers at the KV Corridor event, Akhilesh said: “Who doesn’t eat with labourers. I did it so many times. But the issue is not sharing food with them, the issue is providing nutritious food to labourers regularly. Would BJP government tell why it scrapped the nutritious food scheme introduced for labourers by the previous SP government?” He said his “Vijay Rath” was continuously riding amid people and getting their support. Akhilesh’s alliance partners Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SPSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, Janwadi Party (Socialist) chief Sanjay Chauhan, Apna Dal (Krishna Patel faction) chief Krishna Patel and former BSP leader Ramachal Rajbhar who recently joined the SP were with Akhilesh at the press conference.“What I have been saying since the start that the SP along with its allies and public support will win 400 seats might turn out to be true,” he said. When asked about the PM Modi’s “red colour is red alert” comment, Akhilesh said: “These people have no understanding of the red colour. Red is the colour of happiness, anger and revolution. Is BJP people’s blood of black colour, no it is also red.”

Hindustan Times

14-12-2021

Lucknow