NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday accused the BJP of creating divisions in Uttar Pradesh and claimed that the state’s political contest was now between 95 per cent of people facing hardship and five per cent whom he described as exploiters.His remarks appeared to take a swipe at chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s “80-20” formulation, which the BJP leader had popularised ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections to describe the political divide in the state.“The fight is no longer between 80 and 20 per cent. It is now a fight between 95 and five per cent. Ninety-five per cent of the people who are suffering, distressed and humiliated are on one side, while five per cent of exploiters are on the other,” Yadav said.He also claimed that the BJP was feeling the pressure of this changing political equation.“When there is a fight between 95 and five per cent, BJP leaders will not even know where they have landed. That is why their language and behaviour have changed,” Yadav added.
Akhilesh announces visits to Ayodhya, Vrindavan
Responding to a question about his plans to visit the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the SP chief said he would also visit the Kedareshwar temple in Etawah and Vrindavan.“Not just Ayodhya, we will also visit Kedareshwar and Vrindavan,” he said.Yadav also gave a new interpretation to the party’s PDA slogan, describing it as “First Darshan, Then Blessings”.Explaining his remarks, he referred to members of his family and party leaders associated with the names of Hindu deities Shiva and Ram.“Both Shiva and Ram are present in our family. We have both — uncle Shivpal and Ram Gopal Yadav with us.“Awadhesh (Ayodhya MP Awadhesh Prasad) and Pawan (Ayodhya assembly candidate Pawan Pandey ) are also with us. So why is the BJP so nervous?” he said.Earlier, Pawan Pandey had announced that Yadav would visit Ayodhya on December 12 to offer prayers to Ram Lalla.
SP chief questions voter list changes
The SP president also targeted the government over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls, drawing a comparison between a reported drug seizure and claims of large-scale voter deletions.“Newspapers reported that cannabis worth Rs 1.27 crore was seized. On the other hand, there is talk of 1.27 crore votes being deleted. What a strange coincidence,” he said.Calling for greater transparency in elections, Yadav proposed issuing metal voter identity cards that could not be duplicated or copied. He also suggested linking voter lists with Aadhaar.
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Turning to infrastructure development, Yadav claimed that the Lucknow, Kanpur and Agra Metro projects were initiated under the previous Samajwadi Party government.He accused the BJP government of failing to expand the metro network significantly in the past decade.“Lucknow, Kanpur and Agra Metros were the contribution of the Samajwadi Party government. The BJP government has not been able to extend the metro network even by 10 centimetres in 10 years,” he said.Yadav also alleged corruption in the awarding of infrastructure contracts. He claimed that irregularities in the tendering process had affected the quality of roads and expressways, making driving conditions worse and contributing to an increase in accidents.