Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi both targeted the BJP and PM Modi over a host of issues.The BJP will be decimated from Ghaziabad to Ghazipur, announced former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday, two days before the country begins to vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“Today, we are in Ghaziabad and this time INDIA alliance will wipe out BJP from Ghaziabad to Ghazipur. Today, farmers are upset as all the promises of BJP turned out to be fake,” said Yadav.
Ghaziabad on UP’s western periphery votes on April 26 while polling in Ghazipur in eastern UP will take place on June 1.
Yadav and Gandhi are among the top opposition leaders in the INDIA bloc put together in 2023 to oppose the BJP. MK Stalin, Lalu Prasad Yadav, and Uddhav Thackeray are other members of the grand alliance.
Every promise made by the BJP has turned out false and that the “wind from the West” would change the country in the first phase of elections.
The Pichde-Dalits-Alpasankhyaks or PDA, a coalition of backward classes, Dalits, and minorities, will defeat the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the SP leader said during a joint press conference with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
PDA was introduced by Yadav in June 2023 as a counter to the BJP-led NDA, with the promise that “PDA hi NDA ko harayega” (It will be the PDA that defeats the BJP-led NDA). While the SP’s core vote bank traditionally comprised Yadavs and Muslims, recent electoral setbacks have prompted Yadav to broaden the party’s appeal to include Dalits, OBCs other than Yadavs, and minorities other than Muslims.
Yadav claimed that the BJP has become the warehouse of the corrupt. “Electoral bond exposed them. BJP has become the warehouse of corruption. They are not only taking corrupts (in their party) but also keeping the money earned by them,” he added.
Gandhi also called it the “biggest extortion scheme in the world”. The Wayanad MP labelled PM Modi as the “champion of corruption”.
“The Prime Minister says that the system of electoral bonds was brought for transparency, to clean politics. If this is true, then why was that system cancelled by the Supreme Court. And secondly, if you wanted to bring transparency, then why did you hide the names of those who gave money to BJP. And why did you hide the dates on which they gave you the money?” he said.
Gandhi accused the ruling party and its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of destroying democracy in the country while raising the issues of unemployment and poverty.
“I do not do prediction of seats. About 15-20 days ago, I used to think the BJP would win around 180 seats, but now I think they will get 150. We are getting reports from every state that we are improving. We have a very strong alliance in Uttar Pradesh and we will perform very well,” said Gandhi.
Meanwhile, suspense continues over the high-profile Amethi seat in Uttar Pradesh. Gandhi said it was the domain of the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) and he would abide by its decision. While the BJP has re-nominated Smriti Irani from Amethi, once a stronghold of Gandhi, Congress is yet to name its candidate.
Gandhi, who has been renominated from Kerala’s Wayanad, won the Amethi seat three consecutive times since 2004. However, Irani defeated Gandhi by 55,000 votes in 2019, earning her the moniker of “giant slayer”.