Lucknow: Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, stating that the party itself is a problem for the country's economy. He termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to save foreign exchange as a confession of the BJP's decline. Speaking in Prayagraj, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister arrived at the Sangam city in the morning to visit former MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi at her Civil Lines residence to pay tributes to her husband, Puran Chand Joshi, who passed away earlier this month.
Akhilesh offers condolences, interacts with media
Akhilesh met the family, offered his condolences, and spent over half an hour in conversation with them. Upon leaving Joshi's residence, he paused to interact with waiting media personnel. Responding to a query about the Prime Minister's call to curb fuel use and avoid gold purchases to save foreign exchange, Akhilesh said, "The BJP, which has been running the central government for the past 12 years, has failed miserably to keep the country's economy on track."
BJP accused of lying on women's reservation
The Samajwadi Party chief alleged that the BJP government is compelled to issue appeals as it continues to lie to the people on one issue after another. "The women's reservation bill became a law in 2023, but the BJP is lying about it. The Prime Minister and the chief minister do not want to accept that before Parliament and the state assembly, respectively," Akhilesh said. He further claimed that the Bahujan Samaj Party also does not want to give reservation to women, hence they are not accepting that the law on women's reservation is already in place. "Just imagine the situation the BJP is in today. The chief minister convened a special session of the assembly to bring a proposal that became a law in 2023 and was notified as well," he added.
Allegations of BJP links to crime
Responding to a query about a man previously photographed with BJP functionaries who was arrested for the murder of West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari's personal assistant, Akhilesh said that only people associated with the BJP are capable of such lowly acts. "I have heard that some BJP functionaries who were photographed with the accused have sought help from the chief minister to save him. This is not all. A Rs 100 crore scam has been unearthed in Jhansi where a close associate of the top BJP brass is the kingpin," he alleged.
On Pooja Pal's cabinet induction speculation
Answering a question about speculation regarding MLA Pooja Pal's induction into the Yogi cabinet and then her name being dropped, Akhilesh said, "If the chief minister and the BJP have so much affection for Pooja Pal, they should make her the deputy chief minister. So what if there already are deputy chief ministers? One more deputy CM should not be a problem."
