BJP trying to instil fear in people; its supporters mowed down farmers: Akhilesh

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday lashed out at the ruling BJP, accusing it of trying to instil fear among people while alleging that its supporters mowed down farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri last month.

Eight people, including four farmers, were killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence on October 3. The farmers were mowed by vehicles allegedly carrying BJP workers.

Police have arrested Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish in the death case of farmers.

Addressing a public meeting in Sandila here, Yadav said, ”Farmers had come out to demand the withdrawal of three farm laws and BJP’s MoS for Home and his supporters crushed them under the tyres of a Jeep.” ”The British had fired from the front at the Jallianwala Bagh and the BJP people mowed down farmers from behind,” Yadav said. ”They think they can do politics by making people afraid. The British ruled by dividing and they think they can rule by making people afraid. This time, no one will get afraid and we will wipe them out,” he said referring to the upcoming Assembly polls.

Yadav further said people want change because the state under the BJP has ”lagged behind”. On coming to power, the SP chief said they will work for the poor, backwards and farmers. He also slammed the BJP over employment creation and pointed to the hike it electricity charges. Electricity became expensive as no new power generation plant was started, he said. Taking a dig at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Yadav said nowadays he (Yogi) is learning names of power plants but by the time he learns them, his government will go. Yadav assured that the power sector will be reformed if his SP forms next government in the state. His party was bringing different hues of political parties together to make a colourful bouquet, he said. Claiming that this time the BJP is going to be wiped out from Uttar Pradesh, Yadav said, ”The kind of crisis the government has created, no one is able to offer laddoos to anyone,” referring to the renowned delicacy of Sandila, whose business he said has been hit under the BJP rule.

Addressing the rally earlier, SBSP president Om Prakash Rajbhar charged the BJP with telling lies and said that the 2022 Assembly elections will be a do or die battle. ”If leaders who tell lies are found anywhere in the world, they are in the BJP,” he said.

Taking a swipe at the ruling party, he said the price of fuel was slashed after the BJP lost bypolls in several states recently. ”This time, if you defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, then the price of petrol and diesel will be halved,” he said. He also promised a caste census if the SP-led alliance comes to power in the state. Earlier, the SBSP had joined hands with the SP.

In the 2017 Assembly elections, Rajbhar’s party had tied up with the BJP. Rajbhar was sworn in as a cabinet minister in the state government. Before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rajbhar broke the alliance with the BJP.