Akhilesh sees wave of change in MP; flays Cong’s inaction on Mandal report

Niwari (MP), Nov 15: Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday claimed a “wave of change” was visible in the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and blasted the saffron outfit for making “false promises” to voters to retain power.
Attacking his INDIA bloc ally Congress, Yadav said the Grand Old Party, when it headed the government at the Centre, did not implement the Mandal Commission recommendations.
“A wave of change was prevailing in Madhya Pradesh and SP candidates are going to win elections with a record margin,” he stated.
The former Uttar Pradesh CM was addressing an election meeting to drum up support for his party candidate from Niwari, Meera Yadav, on the last day of campaigning for the November 17 assembly polls.
The SP has fielded 71 candidates in MP, which has a 230-member assembly, after it failed to enter into a pre-poll truck with the Congress – the largest constituent of the opposition INDIA grouping.
“The Congress and the BJP formed governments in Madhya Pradesh but people remain in sorrow. The Congress could not save its MLAs from being looted. The BJP looted them,” he said.
Yadav was referring to the collapse of the Congress government led by Kamal Nath in March 2020 following a rebellion by a section of party MLAs that paved the way for the BJP to return to power in MP after 15 months.
He hit out at the ruling BJP for not keeping its promises. “The BJP promised jobs to youths, farmers were told their income would double and they will get a reasonable price for their produce. Did the BJP keep its promises?” the SP leader asked.
“The BJP government (at the Centre) implemented a note ban (in 2016) and then indulged in corruption by reprinting them,” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister alleged. The saffron party has failed to check rising inflation and has only indulged in speaking lies to garner votes, he added.
“It was claimed the note ban will benefit farmers and curb corruption. Did it happen?” he asked.
It is unfortunate that in Madhya Pradesh, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) were not getting 27 per cent reservation in government jobs and education despite constituting more than half of the state’s population, Yadav said.
“If the SP gets an opportunity to form a government, it will carry out a caste-based census in Madhya Pradesh and ensure backward communities get reservation in accordance with their population,” he asserted. (PTI)