Top News

Hathras (UP), Aug 10 (PTI): BSP leader Akash Anand on Monday launched a broadside against the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over jobs, education and law and order, while taking digs at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, calling them both “uncle”, as the party stepped up preparations for next year’s Assembly elections.

Addressing a workers' conference in the Sadabad area here, Anand also referred to recent protests by students and youth in Delhi and other parts of the country, saying merely making speeches and holding protests would not change the government.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national coordinator accused the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh of failing on employment, education and law and order, and alleged that more than Rs 7,000 crore had been spent on advertisements over the past decade to hide its shortcomings.

The BSP leader, who is the nephew of party supremo and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, also took a swipe at Akhilesh Yadav, referring to the SP chief as his “uncle”, stressing their age difference.

He also referred to the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha as “Rahul uncle”.

Anand said the state government should be questioned about its performance over the last 10 years as the Assembly elections approach.

He alleged that more than four lakh government posts were lying vacant in the state, while several competitive examinations had witnessed paper leaks.

“Had the money been spent on examinations and employment, a large number of young people could have got government jobs,” he said, referring to the alleged expenditure on advertisements.

Anand also claimed that more than 25,000 schools had been closed in the state and questioned the government's employment figures, saying even people selling snacks or running a roadside stall once a week were counted as employed.

He also raised questions over the quality of development projects, referring to the Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway, alleging that it had sunk at several places within a month of inauguration.

The BSP leader also invoked the quality of the Yamuna Expressway, which was built during Mayawati's tenure as the chief minister, to further slam the Yogi Adityanath-led government.

On law and order, Anand questioned the government's record on crime and women's safety and took a dig at Chief Minister Adityanath's claims of being an “encounter specialist”.

Turning to the Congress, Anand said the party talks about the Constitution of B R Ambedkar but in states where it is in power, it is doing what the BJP government does.

He also targeted the SP and its chief Akhilesh Yadav as he referred to the party's PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) formulation and alleged that it "keeps changing".

Referring to the SP chief as “uncle”, Anand said, “I am 30, he is 50… What else should I call him! He's not ‘bhaiyya’ (elder brother), he is uncle to me. And I am saying this respectfully,” Anand told the gathering.

Referring to the recent protests by students and youth in Delhi and other places, Anand said he did not consider leaders of the movement who demanded the education minister's resignation to be wrong, but asserted that merely making speeches and staging protests would not change the government.

“They changed one person and brought another, but neither the policy changed, nor the process, nor the officials. Your future is still the same,” he said.

“If you really want to fix the system, you will have to change the government and change the people,” Anand said.

The Sadabad conference was organised in support of the party's candidate Avin Sharma, as part of the BSP's preparations for next year’s Assembly elections. PTI COR KIS ARI ARI

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)