BJP panicking. That’s why it sent two CMs Kejriwal, Soren to jail: Akhilesh

“They will lose 400 seats. They are in a panic. And therefore, they have sent Delhi Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal) to jail. They have also sent Jharkhand CM (Hemant Soren) to jail. If they were crossing the 400-seat mark, why are they accepting all kinds of leaders? I’m hearing they have brought a mafia member to the party in Bareilly. They have accepted people who used to abuse them all day. In UP, there were such parties which now the BJP has allied with,” said the former chief minister.

Linking the electoral bond scheme, which was brought by the BJP government and now has been scrapped by the Supreme Court, with the inflation in the country, Akhilesh said, “Since BJP came to power, they have increased prices of diesel, petrol, and everything. You should calculate how much prices have gone up in the last 10 years. When they should have stopped the price rise, they started collecting funds. You must have read that they are claiming that the corrupt won’t be spared. But if anyone is increasing corruption, it is the BJP. They have started a new way for corruption. They have created these electoral bonds. Through them, they are doing vasooli (extortion). The companies that earned no profits, the government extorted from them too.”

“This government is such that they have threatened big business houses with CBI, ED and extorted money. This kind of extortion has not been seen anywhere,” the SP chief said, adding the BJP’s identity is of “jhooth” (lies) and “loot”.

Accusing the BJP of converting its “black money into white money” through demonetisation and electoral bonds, he said: “The inflation is there because of the money this government has extorted. The businessmen from whom they extort money, will they not make profit. Because they are making profits, there is inflation and because there is corruption, there is inflation. And if anyone is responsible for this it is the BJP,” said Akhilesh.

He said that the people of UP will ensure that those who came to power in 2014, will be thrown out of power in 2024. “If the people of UP can give a good welcome, then they can also give a great farewell. Do you remember their guarantees? The way they made us bang thaalis during the Covid pandemic. Have they doubled the income of farmers or given two crore jobs? The BJP doesn’t have any guarantees, but ghanti (bells),” said the SP chief.

Accusing the BJP of being anti-farmers for bringing in “three black land laws”, Akhilesh said: “There are farmers here. They know that the movement by farmers saw participation from all farmers. Those who couldn’t go to Delhi to protest, supported the movement. Our Sikh brothers gave their everything for the movement. The BJP brought three black laws. They were withdrawn because the BJP panicked after seeing the strength of farmers.”

Referring to the 2022 incident in Lakhimpur Kheri where protesting farmers were mowed down by a car in which BJP MP and Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son was allegedly seated, Akhilesh said: “Those who were talking in favour of farmers and youth have been pushed back. And those who were driving Thar (car) were given respect by the BJP… No one could have imagined that farmers’ protest would be crushed by Thar.”

Targeting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Akhilesh said that while he talks about others getting “geela” (wet), he doesn’t talk about all the papers that got leaked in the state. “Several aspirants have committed suicide after paper leaks. And then these people in the government say that our country is becoming a “vishwaguru”. If our country has become “vishwaguru”, then will 80-90 per cent of youth remain jobless? The jobs being given are temporary and through outsourcing,” the SP chief said.

Reminding the BJP of its 2022 Assembly poll promise to bring out a solution to tackle stray cattle menace in the state, the SP chief said: “The PM had said that he had made a policy which will resolve stray cattle issue within 15 days of coming to power. How long has it been since the government has been formed? Now, it has been seven years for the UP government and 10 for the Central government. Tell me will you take hisaab in these elections or not?” Akhilesh asked the voters. He promised the farmers that if elected to power, the INDIA alliance government would ensure that farmers would get minimum support price (MSP) on all crops and their loans will be waived.