Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 21 : Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday claimed that a united PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) group could defeat the BJP in the upcoming elections, calling it a first-of-its-kind political moment.
Yadav also accused the ruling party of avoiding a caste census, misleading the public, and using institutions for propaganda, while reiterating support for women's reservation.
"I heard today that a Pad Yatra (foot march) was taking place in Lucknow. And in this scorching heat, not a single person participating today was even wearing sunglasses. Moreover, this is not a genuine foot march, but rather a rehearsal for staging protests while serving in the opposition. For the first time in history, an election is about to witness a single community defeating a political party, and that community is known as the PDA," said Akhilesh.
He accused the BJP of stalling the national census to avoid demands for a caste census while claiming the ruling party remains unwilling to grant women their rightful reservation.
"I recently expressed my gratitude to all our alliance partners for the historic victory of democracy. We stand firmly in support of women's rights, whereas the BJP is unwilling to grant women's reservation. There are those who do not wish to count the population; they know that once a census is conducted, people will inevitably raise demands for a caste census and assert their rights. That is precisely why the BJP does not want to hold a census. The BJP's strategy was to use this very issue to mislead the public, the SP Chief said.
"During the era of Hitler, there was a single Minister of Propaganda; however, under the BJP government, the entire administration, including all those occupying constitutional posts, has become accomplices in spreading propaganda," Yadav added.
This comes as the largest state in India in terms of population, Uttar Pradesh, is slated to go to polls in 2027, bringing the key battle between the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
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