Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said that though he wanted to sit in protest in solidarity with students who were protesting against the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission, he has not done so far fearing that the BJP would label the protests as politically motivated. Yadav was campaigning in Phulpur (Prayagraj district) today.
Yadav said he supported the protests and congratulated the students for demanding their rights. “These are no ordinary people. They are well-educated men and women who will tomorrow be officers”, he said. Yadav also blamed the district police for forcibly removing the protestors, including women, without any female police personnel.
However, this has been denied by the police. Earlier today, the protestors broke through barriers and rushed towards the commission. Yadav said that the atmosphere in this election had been changed to ‘Yogi’ versus ‘Pratiyogi’ (exam aspirants). Yadav called upon the crowd to vote to protect the Constitution. “Our fight for the Constitution and PDA shall continue”, he said.
The former CM brought up the usual points he has been raking up in the bypoll campaign – that the BJP deliberately postponed elections because it was afraid of losing, of how there were no jobs for the young, and how farmers had been duped after being promised that their incomes would be doubled.
He also accused the BJP of using officials to tamper with election results. “We would have won so many more seats in the Lok Sabha election…we lost by narrow margins”. He asked people not to stop if the administration stopped them from casting their votes. “Go again and again if they (the administration) stop you”, he said.
Yadav also said that he had come to know that the administration was taking away the identity cards of people. “I know the people of Phulpur are brave”, he said. He came down on Yogi for using ‘negative language’ which he said stemmed from his negative thoughts.