Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday accused the BJP and the Election Commission of targeting voters in Uttar Pradesh through the Special Summary Revision (SSR) process. Speaking to reporters, Yadav said, "Those people who wanted to sing Vande Mataram in the session never sang it before independence. They never liked the Tiranga." He further alleged, "Names of more than 3 crore voters will get deleted by the SIR in UP. The BJP and the Election Commission are conspiring to remove the names of voters in areas where the BJP lost elections. NRC is being implemented through the SIR."
The Samajwadi Party chief's remarks come amid growing political debates over voter list revisions and electoral processes in the state. Earlier, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday launched a sharp attack on the BJP during the Lok Sabha's special discussion on the 150th anniversary of Vaned Mataram, accusing the ruling party of trying to "own everything and make their own for political gain".
Yadav said the song's legacy was far greater than the political narratives being pushed today, asserting that Vande Mataram belonged to the freedom struggle and to the people of India, not to any political party. "The people in the ruling party today want to claim everything as their own," he said. Yadav began by remembering Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, "Who gave the nation a song that awakened millions", but accused the ruling side of "owning everything". Recalling the song's role in India's freedom movement, Yadav narrated how Vande Mataram became a rallying cry against British rule, energising lakhs of people. He cited Rabindranath Tagore's rendition of the song during the Kolkata Congress session, which helped it reach ordinary people and cement its place in the independence movement.
He reminded the House that the British government had banned the song between 1905 and 1908, even jailing schoolchildren in Bengal for singing it in classrooms. "But the revolutionaries did not accept the ban; they kept the song alive in their hearts and minds and continued to carry the movement forward among the people," he added. He argued that Vande Mataram was not merely meant to be sung, but to be lived. "Look at the last few decades and see how much they (BJP) have actually lived by it," he said. "Today, the forces of division want to break this nation. These same people betrayed the nation earlier, and they are betraying it even now," he added.
Yadav also alleged that some individuals who now speak loudly about nationalism had, during the freedom struggle, acted as informants for the British. "Those who didn't participate in the freedom movement, what would they know about celebrating Vande Mataram?" Yadav added. He challenged the BJP's historical claims by saying, "Their history will show why they never sang this song before independence, and why they didn't sing it even after independence."
Meanwhile, the BJP-led NDA government has been allotted three hours for its participation in the Lok Sabha debate, while a total of 10 hours has been earmarked for the entire discussion, as the debate will also take place in the upper house, the Rajya Sabha, on Tuesday, December 9. The 6th Session of the 18th Lok Sabha and the 269th Session of the Rajya Sabha commenced on Monday, December 1, marking the beginning of the Winter Session of Parliament. The session will conclude on December 19.