New Delhi, Nov 1 Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said the Ramlila Maidan has turned into the “Haldighati of democracy” with a massive turnout of people, signalling that a change was in the offing, and added that those who came to power at the Centre through Uttar Pradesh will also exit from there.
Taking a dig at the BJP, Yadav said those who speak of having a firm, immovable stance — likening it to the unshakeable foot of Angad — should consider where they would even place that foot when there is no ground left to stand on.
Yadav was referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks during a BJP executive meeting in Lucknow on October 30, where he used the “Angad’s foot” analogy to assert that the saffron party will return to power in UP for the third consecutive time.
Addressing the ‘INDIA’ bloc rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan against alleged “vote chori”, Yadav referred to the recent MLC polls, saying that the people of Kashi (Varanasi) have reduced the “double-engine” government to a “double zero”.
“Those who came to power through UP will be ousted from there. And ‘UP wallahs (people)’, who are good at welcoming, are better at giving send-offs,” Yadav said, taking a swipe at the BJP.
Raising the issue of names being removed from electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party (SP) chief stated, “As this public meeting was being organised at Ramlila Maidan, it was stated by the BJP that the votes of 1.27 crore Hindu brethren in Uttar Pradesh had been deleted—which translates to a reduction of 31,000 votes in every assembly constituency.”
He asserted that, in reality, attempts were being made to shift the blame for their defeat onto others. Referring to the West Bengal assembly elections, Akhilesh alleged that the polls there were ‘looted’ and that votes were manipulated through a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls conducted prior to the elections.
“We, in the ‘INDIA’ bloc, will not stop,” he said. “If we were unable to form the government in 2022, it is because of this very theft,” Yadav added.
Taking another jab at the BJP, the SP chief said those who once boasted about making India a ‘Vishwaguru’ are now busy manipulating the electoral rolls.
Yadav said the people are set to save democracy, and this movement will begin in Uttar Pradesh. Yadav also said that seeing the massive turnout of people, the Ramlila Maidan has become the “Haldighati of democracy”.
The Battle of Haldighati was fought in 1576, in the narrow mountain pass of Haldighati in the Aravalli Range of Rajasthan, between the Mewar Kingdom and the Mughal Empire.
“Many times, history has been written from this ground, and the people’s support is indicative that a change is in the offing. The slogans show that the ‘parivartan’ can come anytime,” the SP chief said.
The former chief minister said the chances of BJP returning to power in UP are slim, citing the saffron party’s performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“In the Lok Sabha, they saw the beginning of a send-off, but in the 2027 assembly polls, there would be such a send-off that they would not be able to return,” he said.
“This is the ground of Ram ji’s leela, and we have seen in Ram leela that the sinner is always punished. The sinners will not be saved from Ram ji, and those who have indulged in chanda chori will be completely destroyed,” he added.
He attacked the NDA-led Centre over the back-breaking inflation and the fall in the value of the rupee.
“The youth will not forget the treatment they were meted out in Delhi, and BJP people will not be saved, and the beginning would be made from Uttar Pradesh,” Yadav said.
(PTI News)
