Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming the party was not putting up a real fight in the upcoming elections in West Bengal and was instead “aiming for a respectable defeat.”
Speaking at a press conference during his two-day visit to Mumbai, Yadav also urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure that elections are conducted fairly and independently.
“BJP is not giving any strong competition in Bengal, but they are aiming for a respectable defeat,” Yadav said while addressing the media.
He further alleged that electoral processes were being manipulated in Uttar Pradesh, claiming that the Election Commission and the BJP were working together to remove the votes of people whom the ruling party did not want on the electoral rolls.
Referring to the political situation in West Bengal, Yadav said the people of the state were politically aware and capable of judging the BJP’s politics. He expressed confidence that Mamata Banerjee would return as Chief Minister once again.
The Samajwadi Party leader also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, challenging him to contest elections from Maharashtra instead of Uttar Pradesh.
In a separate remark on rising concerns over cooking gas supply, Yadav said there was now a new full form of LPG — “Lapata Gas,” implying that cylinders were becoming difficult to find. He also said the Prime Minister had an opportunity to become a “Vishwa Guru” but had missed that chance.
Continuing his criticism of the BJP, Yadav alleged that the party functioned more like a “gang” than a political organisation and sought to control every institution.
He also targeted Union Home Minister Amit Shah while speaking about the anti-conversion bill, saying, “The Home Minister himself changed his religion. Under what act did he change it? Then what is the need to bring such a law?”
On the issue of illegal immigration, Yadav said the BJP should clarify during which government Bangladeshi nationals allegedly entered India. Referring to a recent incident, he claimed that police in Agra detained suspected Bangladeshis and later abandoned them in Kolkata.
“Are they Bangladeshis? What was the responsibility of the government to act accordingly? They do this only for elections,” he said.
Yadav also criticised what he described as the BJP’s “SIR” exercise in Uttar Pradesh, claiming it was effectively an implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). He alleged that around four crore names were removed from voter lists during the process and said that even the ruling party had become concerned as its own supporters’ votes were affected.
