Lucknow: When Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav addressed a meeting of party functionaries and cadre at Govt Inter College grounds in Rae Bareli on Thursday evening, the speech unfolded an outline of how the party apparently intends to take on BJP in the 2027 assembly polls.There was a clear attempt to target BJP on four counts. One was by questioning its commitment towards Hindutva by repeatedly focusing on Ram Temple donation theft and demolition of temples near Kashi Vishwanath temple. He said people from BJP were involved in donation theft and took on chief minister for his frequent visits to Ayodhya to question BJP govt’s claims of zero tolerance towards crime and criminals.The SP chief also talked about how a temple was washed with Gangajal after he visited it in Kannauj and how CM residence was ‘purified’ with Gangajal after he vacated it after losing the 2017 assembly polls.Second was a move to target BJP over showcasing bulldozers as a hallmark of Yogi govt and a symbol of ‘instant justice’ which saw the top courts come up with a phrase ‘bulldozer justice’. Akhilesh said bulldozers were used to raze temples and ghats in Varanasi – a clear indication that the party was not hesitant to showcase how bulldozers were now targeting Hindu temples.Akhilesh also talked about how bulldozers were used to ‘demolish’ the statue of Ahilybai Holkar on Manikarnika Ghat in Kashi this year in order to wipe off her achievements. The administration, however, maintained it was temporarily removed for development work and later restored.He talked about bulldozers on two more occasions including one when he referred to BJP as “those who drive the bulldozer”. Political observers feel there was an attempt to set a narrative that SP prefers Rath which gels with Indian mythology and ethos while BJP identifies itself with bulldozers.Thirdly, Akhilesh focused at length on how the rights of PDA were being curtailed. Pitching SP as a champion of PDA, Akhilesh claimed that recently Rae Bareli administration, allegedly at the instance of CM Yogi Adityanath, did not allow an event of Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha to take place in the district which was spearheaded by the party’s Harchandpur MLA Rahul Lodh. He said while across UP the election is BJP versus PDA, in Rae Bareli the recent incident had made it Yogi versus Lodhi.SP is set to highlight before PDA how reservation in govt jobs was on BJP’s hit list and how PDA was reduced to Pirdit, Dukhi and Apmanit (exploited, targeted and humiliated). The speech also talked about how SP talks of constructive politics, but BJP draws strength from politics of negativity by focusing on issues that spread hatred and divide society. He came up with specific instances of crime against PDA community people and govt apathy in solving such crimes.Last but not least, Akhilesh spoke at length on failures of BJP govt ranging from the role of Election Commission, which he described as the most corrupt agency in India, to the issue of ethanol being mixed in petrol, price rise, lawlessness, closure of 26,000 schools and similar issues.
