BJP manifesto a paper of deception: Akhilesh
KANPUR: Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday described the BJP’s sankalp patra (manifesto for the civic elections) as another chal patra, a ‘document of deception for the masses’.
The SP chief was speaking to reporters in Kanpur.
He alleged the ruling party had introduced its third manifesto without fulfilling the promises made in the two previous ones released before the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and assembly elections earlier this year.
The former chief minister said the BJP, which dominated a majority of municipal corporations in Uttar Pradesh for the last 10-15 years, must explain its achievements to the people, rather than making fresh promises.
“This chal patra is the result of the BJP’s desperation,” Yadav said.
Asked if his party would bring in a manifesto for the civic polls, he said all critical issues concerning the cities were in the party’s manifesto for the assembly polls.
“The SP was the first party to have focused on traffic, environment and parking,” he said.
While the BJP was now talking about the environment and other issues, the SP understood the needs of cities a long time ago, the former chief minister said.
“We came out with a green manifesto, created cycle tracks and launched a number of other measures. The BJP has now put up posters in Delhi, asking people to ride bicycles,” Akhilesh Yadav said. He said his government went beyond the manifesto to address the issues of urban centres. The government had worked on the historical Green Park stadium to resume international cricket matches, which at the time were not being allotted to one of the country’s oldest Test centres because of poor infrastructure.
He accused the BJP government of either shelving or renaming all the key projects that his government started.
He asked the BJP government to explain why the Kanpur Metro project had not started though he had conceptualised it.
“Under the new policy, it is unlikely that Kanpur will get the metro train,” he said.
He said people had seen through the BJP’s false promises and the result in the Chitrakoot (Madhya Pradesh) assembly by-election was a clear indicator. The Congress defeated the BJP in Chitrakoot on Sunday.
Hitting out at the BJP over the law and order situation, he said the party misled people with lofty promises and never delivered.
The SP chief asked the people to seek an account of the BJP’s performance at the centre over the last three and a half years and in the state in nearly eight months. He said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation had affected the people, especially the business class in Kanpur, the state’s economic powerhouse which generates the maximum jobs and revenue in UP. “Ask any industrialist or exporter in private, they will reveal their pain. They are not getting any relief,” he said.
The economy and the market had collapsed because of senseless implementation of these measures, he said.