Exuding confidence about “revolution of the Backwards” in the 2022 Assembly election, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday called for a change in power in Uttar Pradesh.
“This time there will be an inquilab (revolt) of the backward [classes] during election. And there will be change in 2022,” Mr. Yadav said at a public meeting in Amebdkar Nagar in East U.P.
The rally, organised by two former senior BSP leaders, both OBC — Lalji Verma and Ram Achal Rajbhar — was part of the SP chief’s outreach among the non-Yadav OBCs whom the BJP successfully managed to pit against the Yadavs in the past few elections. OBCs are estimated to be comprise 40-45% of the State’s population, of which Yadavs, the core support base of the SP, make up a fifth.
The two leaders, both five-time MLAs and senior leaders of their respective Kurmi and Rajbhar communities, were inducted into the SP at the Janadesh Maha Rally in their home district.
In an appeal to Dalits and OBCs to rally behind him, Mr. Yadav said only the ideologies of Ram Manohar Lohia and B.R. Ambedkar can fulfil the dream of India and “our ancestors.” Referring to his failed alliance with BSP chief Mayawati in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Mr. Yadav said he had attempted to “bring together the ideologies” of Ambedkar and Lohia.
“Both leaders wanted Parivartan, to do something for the honour of those people who were kept despondent for thousands of years. those who lived under discrimination. We did not succeed in that attempt,” said Mr. Yadav in Ambedkar Nagar, which has been a BSP stronghold.
While expressing happiness at the long list of former BSP leaders who have joined the SP in recent months, widening his caste canvas, Mr. Yadav promised to honour these leaders and fulfil their dreams. He also lauded them for spending decades on strengthening the Ambedakrite ideology.
Taking on the BJP on the issue of price rise, Mr. Yadav’s stage was decorated with cut-outs of gas cylinders with the caption ‘ Mehangai par vaar hoga, 2022 mein badlav hoga (there will be a battle against price rise and a change in 2022).’
Mr. Yadav said that while the BJP had promised to double the income of farmers, what the people got was inflation and joblessness. He said the 2022 Assembly election was to save the Constitution and democracy, and raised concerns over the privatisation of public assets, linking it to the dilution of rights and honour of those got these entitlements from Ambedkar.
Mr. Yadav’s references to Ambedkar are seen as an attempt to woo the sizeable Dalit population in U.P. and followers of the BSP who may be looking for an option.
Questioning how the farmers could forgive the BJP for the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which four farmers and a journalist were among eight persons killed when vehicles of Union Minister Ajay Mishra ran into the crowd, and the saffron party’s subsequent defeats in the October 30 by-polls, the SP chief said it had caused prices to come down. “If they lose in U.P., the prices will come further down,” he said.
The Ambedkar Nagar rally comes close on the heels of a show of strength by Mr. Yadav with his new ally Om Prakash Rajbhar in Mau. Ahead of next year’s polls, the SP has allied with four smaller, OBC-based parties.
