In an apparent swipe at Congress, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said that he has not been invited to the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
The Samajwadi Party and the Congress are part of Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), a grouping of 27 Opposition parties to take on the BJP-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
On a query over if he was going to attend the Yatra, Yadav candidly said, “The difficulty is that there are several big events, and we don’t get invitations. So, how can we go on our own?”
When pointed out that he was invited for the Ram Temple consecration event, he said, “We asked that (invitation) ourselves… After we informed them that our home was cleaned with Ganga jal, then we heard that they have decided to invite us.”
Tagging the video of Yadav saying that he didn’t receive an invite, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that the yatra’s programme in Uttar Pradesh will be shared with INDIA bloc constituents after it is finalised in a day or two.
“After this it will be shared with the constituent parties of INDIA bloc in the state. Their participation in the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will further strengthen the INDIA bloc. The Yatra is expected to enter UP in the afternoon of February 16,” Ramesh said in a post in Hindi.
The Samajwadi Party had earlier announced that the party would give 11 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. However, the party later declared the names of candidates in 16 seats, some of which were claimed by the Congress. This announcement has strained the ties between the two INDIA bloc allies.
Akhilesh Yadav on PDA
Meanwhile, Yadav said on Sunday that a survey has showed that 91 per cent of the backward people, Dalits and minorities will vote unitedly for the PDA due to which the BJP’s equation and previous formulas have failed this time.
PDA is the term coined by Yadav for “picchde, Dalit and alpsankhyak” (backward, Dalit and minorities) for which the Samajwadi Party is batting for in the Lok Sabha polls that is scheduled in April-May this year.
“Survey of those who believe in PDA: Overall 90% say– 49 per cent backward people have faith in PDA, 16 per cent Dalits have faith in PDA, 21 per cent minorities(Muslims+Sikhs+Buddhists+Christians+Jains and others+Tribals) believe in PDA, 4 per cent ‘agde’ (upper caste) have confidence in PDA. (All the above include ‘aadhi abadi’ (women). Most of these 90% will vote unitedly for PDA this time,” Yadav said in a post on X.
“Due to this (PDA factor), the BJP is neither able to do any mathematics nor make any equation. This is why all the previous formulas of the BJP have failed this time and the BJP has lagged far behind in the selection of candidates. The BJP is not getting candidates at all. No one wants to fight to lose by taking the BJP ticket,” he added.
Yadav also said even the women, who are among the main supporters of the BJP, will not vote for it this time, citing instances of Manipur and the plight of the women wrestlers.
The former Chief Minister also said that those people in the society who consider themselves intellectuals, who used to look towards the BJP in the name of so-called morality and political honesty are distressed with the incidents of unethical and corrupt behaviour due to greed for power in Maharashtra, Bihar, Chandigarh Mayor elections and Jharkhand.