Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 27 : Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister OP Rajbhar on Tuesday took a jibe at Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav's decision to campaign for Mamata Banerjee, stating that the SP chief's presence in other states has always led to a BJP victory.
UP Minister OP Rajbhar said, "Akhilesh Yadav is going there to make the BJP win. He went to Madhya Pradesh, came back having formed a BJP government there. He went to Delhi, came back having formed a BJP government there. He went to Mumbai, came back having formed a BJP government there. These people work for the BJP."
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, while in West Bengal, claimed that the Election Commission of India (ECI) along with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were conducting the National Register of Citizens (NRC) drive under the garb of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise while "harassing common people".
He further claimed that the ECI was conducting the SIR drive exclusively for West Bengal. The assembly polls in West Bengal are expected to be held in the first half of 2026.
"The responsibility of EC is to see an increase in votes, but for the first time, it is being seen that the EC and BJP, in the garb of SIR, are conducting NRC and harassing common people, and their aim is to cut more votes. Whereas their responsibility is to help the voters," Yadav said in a joint press conference with the Bengal CM.
The SP chief said that whenever elections are held, the EC runs a campaign to encourage more people to vote, but in the name of SIR, the opposite was happening.
"In Bengal, they are harassing CM Mamata Banerjee in the name of SIR. In the country, no one was bothered in past in the name of SIR. I am confident she will become the CM again. People of Bengal will defeat the BJP. They are playing with the secularism of our country. In UP, more votes are being cut. CM Mamata Banerjee has defeated the ED. The BJP has not recovered from the pain of the 'pen drive' incident," he further said.
Similarly, on Monday, Akhilesh Yadav echoed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's criticism of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that the ruling party in the centre was using the Special Investigation Team (SIR) exercise to "cut votes" in states where it faces electoral losses.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the BJP's SIR exercise was "not for increasing votes, but for cutting votes". He claimed that in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, a higher number of votes were being removed deliberately in constituencies where the BJP was losing.
"The BJP's SIR (Special Investigation Team) process is not for increasing votes, but for cutting votes. In Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal, it has been observed that more votes are being removed. Where the BJP is losing, more votes are being deliberately removed. These people who spread hatred and division do not understand that Bengal is a cultural entity, not a political one," Yadav said.
The SP chief further said that those "who spread hatred and division" fail to understand that "Bengal is a cultural entity, not a political one". Backing Mamata Banerjee, he asserted that central agencies had failed to dent her political standing.
"The ED (Enforcement Directorate) lost to Didi (Mamata Banerjee). Bengal is the place from where the message of universal humanism was given. They (the BJP) will not succeed here. The BJP has not recovered from the pain of the 'pen drive' incident. Everyone knows the BJP is going to lose, but they want to do so with dignity. Their entire struggle is about this," he added.
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