Deception aimed at polls, says Akhilesh
LUCKNOW : Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday reacted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of his government’s decision to scrap all three new farm laws and said, “Withdrawal of farm laws is a deception aimed at the elections. The entire government must resign.”
At a press conference, on Friday, at the SP state headquarters in Lucknow, Akhilesh said, “Janata inhe maaf nahin karegi, inhey saaf karegi (people will not forgive, people will oust them)”.
“Saaf nahin hai inka dil, chunav baad fir layegi bill (their intentions are not clean, they will reintroduce the bills after elections),” he said.
He said, “Somewhere, the government got scared because of the elections. The withdrawal is not for the farmers but aimed at elections.”
Cautioning farmers and people, Akhilesh said, “I call upon people to be cautious and alert, and in the larger interest of farmers and people, should oust the BJP government.”
Yadav congratulated all the farmers in the country. The farmers’ struggle against the three black farm laws led to the withdrawal of the laws, he said.
Akhilesh mentioned his Wednesday-Thursday Purvanchal Vijay Yatra as a factor behind the withdrawal of the laws. “I can say that the kind of support Samajwadi Party got in the Purvanchal Vijay Yatra and the way farmers came out on roads to support SP shook not only the UP government but also the union government.”
Akhilesh also said that like the three farm laws, the union government’s decision of demonetisation and GST were also wrong and they ruined the economy and traders. “Will the government apologise for the demonetisation?” he asked.
“Along with withdrawing the black farm laws, the government should also tell when it will bring in MSP (minimum statutory price) for farm produce procurement and when will the union MoS for home, who is responsible for farmers’ death (in Lakhimpur Kheri incident) be removed,” said the SP chief.
“The government should also help and give aid to all those farmers who died during the farm agitation. Can the BJP bring back those farmers who lost their lives for the farm struggle?” questioned Akhilesh.
On PM’s frequent visits to UP, Akhilesh said, “The tours will rise further as the elections get closer.” When asked if he had any talks with farm leader Rakesh Tikait, one of the leaders of the farm agitation, he said, “No. I am myself a farmer.”
About the 2022 UP Assembly elections, he said, “The Samajwadi Party (and allies) will win more than 400 seats.”