Lucknow, Oct 31 — Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), describing it as a "gang" rather than a political party and claimed that if the party loses in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, it will be defeated in the Lok Sabha elections as well.
Yadav made the remarks while speaking in Lucknow after paying floral tributes at the memorial of Acharya Narendra Dev on the banks of the Gomti River, on the occasion of the latter’s 137th birth anniversary.
Addressing a gathering, the SP chief said: "The BJP is driven by negative thinking and is working to create divisions in society. The people of Uttar Pradesh have made up their minds to remove the BJP from power, and if the party loses Uttar Pradesh, it will eventually lose power at the national level as well."
Remembering Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his birth anniversary, Akhilesh Yadav said: "Patel united the princely states of independent India through his vision and efforts," while claiming that the former Home Minister had imposed a ban on the RSS.
"The greatest threat facing the country today comes from communal forces," he said, adding that weakening such forces would strengthen democracy. Moreover, he asserted that socialists are continuously fighting against the BJP and what he termed its “underground tunnel operators.”
The SP chief alleged that the government has only "sold dreams" to the public.
"While the BJP talks about building a $1 trillion economy, it is involved in donation theft. Offerings and donations from the Ram Temple had been stolen," he alleged.
Moreover, Yadav accused the government of engaging in "adulteration" by blending ethanol with petrol and said inflation was being used to generate profits while farmers were not receiving fair prices for their produce.
Asserting that SP workers are united in confronting the BJP, he said that people from all sections of society are prepared to teach the ruling party a lesson.
Questioning the BJP government's education policies, Yadav alleged that 26,000 primary schools in the state had been shut down.
"There were plans to open liquor shops in some of the closed school buildings," he alleged while accusing the BJP government of undermining education by shutting down schools.
Raising concerns about public healthcare, the SP chief alleged that the BJP government is weakening government hospitals while promoting private healthcare.
"During the BJP’s 10 years in power, around 500 private hospitals each had been registered in Gorakhpur and Agra. Government hospitals are deteriorating while the number of private hospitals continues to rise, and public hospitals themselves are now in need of treatment," he said.
Responding to a question related to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Yadav urged HM Shah to focus on Uttar Pradesh’s law-and-order situation, police conduct, and the alleged deaths in police custody.
"Why are so many custodial deaths taking place in the state? Why are crimes against women increasing? And why the government was not responding adequately to concerns regarding cyber fraud and murder cases?" he questioned.
Akhilesh Yadav further alleged that PDA (Pichhda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak) communities were allegedly being harassed, while asking: "Why are a large number of people from these communities in jails, why Muslims are facing injustice, and why bulldozers are being used against the homes of innocent people?"