Akhilesh Yadav, Jayant Singh address huge rally in Meerut, flout BJP’s divisive agenda
The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on Tuesday displayed their might in a big way in western Uttar Pradesh. their alliance As the most prominent contender for the ruling BJP in the 2022 assembly elections.
Addressing a massive crowd of over one lakh, SP president Akhilesh Yadav and RLD chief Jayant Singh said their alliance would provide a “true double engine government” in UP.
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In view of the growing concern over the delay in announcing the alliance, the RLD chief converted a scheduled RLD public meeting in Meerut’s Dabatwa village into the first joint Parivartan Sandesh (Message of Change) rally of the two parties.
Mr. Yadav said the overwhelming turnout is proof that “the sun is set for the BJP in West UP”. “In Eastern UP, the BJP is already facing a Khadera (Eviction).” The farmers were insulted under the BJP rule and the Kisan Andolan will ensure that twenty two (2022) will see Change (change),” he said.
Riding on the farmers’ movement, both parties are trying to consolidate the Jat, Yadav and Muslim vote bank and dent the Dalit support of the Bahujan Samaj Party and the BJP. Apart from socialist stalwarts Chaudhary Charan Singh and Ram Manohar Lohia, the contribution of Babasaheb Ambedkar has been invoked time and again.
The two leaders underscored the importance of brotherhood in the region that provided the BJP with ample advantage in the 2017 elections, when the party won 86 out of 110 seats in western UP.
Mr. Yadav described the BJP as creating division in the society.Whatever he got, he ate the same BJP. (The one who creates the rift is a member of the BJP),” he said.
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Earlier, Mr. Singh said that the BJP’s one-point agenda is to spread hatred.
“The Chief Minister’s address begins with Aurangzeb and ends with reference to the exodus from Kairana. Why doesn’t he talk about the exodus of youth from the state due to lack of employment opportunities? In fact, the government is raining sticks on unemployed youth.
Taking a dig at Mr Adityanath’s flamboyant image, the RLD chief said it is fake as how can the chief minister ignore the demands of farmers and not utter a word in support of them?
He said, “Farmers have forced the Prime Minister to repeal the laws and now BJP people are calling it their success. You cannot have both sides of the coin,” he remarked, adding that he will erect a memorial in memory of farmers in Meerut.
Praising Mr. Yadav for his engineering background and emphasis on infrastructure development during the SP government, Mr. Singh said the youth would send the current chief minister in the company of cows and calves, whom he loved dearly.
Later speaking to reporters, Mr Yadav responded to the PM’s statement in Gorakhpur that people with ‘Lal Topi’ were only concerned about the red beacon (symbol of power), saying, “The PM should tell us that A cabinet minister whose car trampled the innocent. The farmers of Lakhimpur are still holding a sensitive department.”
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Pointing to the crowd breaking the safety barriers, Mr Singh said it was not brought in buses, people have come out of their own accord in their tractors.
Responding to the seat-sharing formula, Mr. Singh said that both the parties will contest on 403 seats. “Which seat will be contested whose election symbol can be decided later and it is not a controversial issue.”
Mr. Singh announced that the next public meeting would be held in Aligarh’s Iglas town on December 23 on the birth anniversary of Chaudhary Charan Singh.
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