Lucknow, June 3: A day before the votes are counted in the Lok Sabha elections, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav invoked Mahatma Gandhi’s “do or die” call for the country’s future and said the youth are ready to sacrifice themselves.
At a press conference here on Monday, Yadav questioned the veracity of the exit polls which have predicted a comfortable victory for the BJP-led NDA and claimed that the agencies conducting them were only trying to create a conducive atmosphere in favour of the BJP.
He said the BJP’s “corrupt policies” are not capable of protecting the nation, adding that youth are now ready to take part in a “new freedom movement”. “That is why the public, remembering Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘do or die’ call, is now agitated and ready to fight a new freedom movement to save their own and the country’s future. People are ready to sacrifice their lives like freedom fighters and youths are tying ‘kafan’ (shroud) over their heads and saying ‘Mera Rang De Basanti Chola’,” Yadav said in Hindi.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said that the INDIA bloc’s victory will be a victory for the country and its people.
“Our exit poll says that the INDIA bloc is winning the maximum number of seats in Uttar Pradesh. I have got an internal survey done that also shows good numbers for us,” he said.
“We and you (media) were among the people to strengthen democracy. We have seen they (BJP) did not have people (in their rallies), their tents were empty…nothing was seen in their favour,” Yadav said.
Opp should be ready to gracefully accept defeat: BJP
The INDIA bloc and the Congress should be ready to gracefully accept their “inevitable” defeat in the Lok Sabha poll rather than “demeaning” the dignity of democracy, the BJP said Monday, launching a fresh attack on the opposition on the eve of the counting of votes.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, party national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the Congress and other opposition parties are raising “baseless” questions on the country’s election process to create “unrest” in society ahead of counting.
“On the lighter note, I would ask them not to consider the entire country a ‘pappu’. Don’t try to hoodwink the people of India. They are wise enough to understand that you are levelling these types of allegations to satisfy your ego like a despotic prince,” he charged.“Wait for the results of the elections. Be ready to gracefully accept the defeat, rather than demeaning the dignity of democracy.” (PTI)
