‘INDIA would’ve won 60+ seats in UP if BJP was not dishonest': Akhilesh Yadav at HTLS

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday hit out at Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath's ‘Batenge to Katenge’ slogan, calling it a negative slogan for India.

“No one has ever given such a negative slogan for India before, 'Batenge to katenge', but this slogan is causing allies to grow apart from each other,” the former UP chief minister said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the INDIA bloc would have won 60-70 seats in Uttar Pradesh had the BJP not resorted to “dishonesty.”

“If the BJP had not resorted to 'dishonesty,' the INDIA bloc would have won 60-70 seats in Uttar Pradesh during the Lok Sabha polls. The alliance between SP and Congress in Amethi and Raebareli contributed to the defeat of many senior BJP leaders,” the SP chief added.

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“People from the RSS had tried their best in Uttar Pradesh, but they could not make an impact because the people were concerned about the Constitution,” he said.

While expressing confidence that the India bloc would win the Maharashtra assembly elections, Akhilesh Yadav said," The BJP leaders can manipulate exit polls."

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Questioning the Yogi Adityanath government over development, the SP chief said,"BJP has failed to provide premier institutes and highways to Uttar Pradesh. Despite being in power twice in the state, the government has not protected youngsters from issues like paper leaks and unemployment."

“Afghanistan's current growth is outpacing that of India. Such issues are the reason why the BJP did not perform well in the Lok Sabha elections,” he said.

Commenting on pollution in Delhi, Akhilesh Yadav said,"The main worry now is how to breathe fresh air in the city. "

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He mentioned that he had spent some time in the environment department and now, he is focused on cleaning the pollution in politics, a task he claimed to have “successfully undertaken in Uttar Pradesh."

Akhilesh slams UP bypolls date change

Akhilesh Yadav questioned the Election Commission's decision to change the date for bypolls to nine assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh.

“The bypoll dates in Uttar Pradesh were changed because the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) knew it was not going to win. The PDA (Pichda, Dalit, and Minority) pitch of the party represents the collective strength of these marginalised sections, which will defeat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),” he said.