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Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Dharmendra Yadav: ‘SP's alliance with Congress intact in UP … When was Imran Masood given the power to make calls on seat sharing?'
The tension between INDIA bloc allies Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress in Uttar Pradesh was rekindled last month after Congress MP Imran Masood said the '80-17 formula' won't work in the 2027 Assembly elections. Masood was referring to the seat-sharing arrangement for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections that saw the Congress contest 17 of UP's 80 parliamentary seats, while the rest went to the SP. The parties reaped the benefits of the alliance, with the alliance outperforming the BJP-led NDA. But the road to the seat-sharing agreement was mired in tension, which came to the fore during the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections in October 2023. The SP's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Dharmendra Yadav, who is also party chief Akhilesh Yadav's cousin, speaks to The Indian Express about the alliance with the Congress, the INDIA bloc's future, and the government's announcement of the caste census, among other issues. Excerpts: * Some leaders, including Congress leader P Chidambaram, have questioned whether the INDIA bloc is still together. What is your view on this? I think the alliance is doing a very good job as the Opposition in the country. The alliance is playing a positive and constructive role… The bloc has never done negative politics. * The government has decided to include caste data in the next Census. It has also announced the timeline for the Census. The government has caved to the pressure from the Samajwadi Party. In 2011, when the last Census was done, the party had demanded caste data to be included. The honourable Mulayam Singh Yadav was among us then, and he had also raised the demand for caste to be included in the Census. Other leaders, Sharad Yadav and Lalu Prasad, and the entire Opposition were demanding a caste census. The caste census has been announced because of the movement led by the Samajwadi Party … This is a win for our struggle. * How is the SP preparing for the 2027 UP Assembly elections? It is going very well. People trust the party and our leader Akhilesh Yadav. The issues of the PDA — Pichhde (backward classes), Dalits, and Alpsankhyak (minorities) — are being raised. The people of UP have realised the future of the state lies in Akhilesh Yadav's leadership. People are unhappy with the current BJP government. Unemployment and corruption are at their peak, the law-and-order situation is at its worst, and the youth and farmers are struggling. * In the 2022 Assembly elections, the SP formed an umbrella alliance with smaller parties. Those parties have left the SP. Will there be a similar umbrella alliance in 2027? I feel the whole PDA family is with us. All sections of society are looking at Akhilesh Yadav with hope. You are right, there was an alliance in 2022 with smaller parties. But after the elections, when we couldn't form the government, these parties deserted us, and that is in front of the people. For 2027, when public support is with us, it is not important which parties are with us and which aren't. * Your alliance with the Congress made a significant impact in the Lok Sabha polls. But, before the elections, and since then too, there has been some tension. You supported the AAP in Delhi. Are there problems between the two parties? The INDIA bloc's fundamental principle was that it would go with the strongest party in the states. In Delhi, naturally, the AAP was the main Opposition party. It was in power. Today, too, they are in the Opposition in Delhi, but they are stronger than the Congress. The decision to support the AAP was as per that principle of the INDIA bloc. But this will have no impact on UP politics. Our alliance in UP is with the Congress and I have 100% hope that it will continue. And there will be a majority government of the INDIA bloc under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav in UP … If anyone is fighting for the people, it is the SP and Akhilesh Yadav. I have full faith that the Congress will help us form the government in the state. * Recently, Congress MP Imran Masood said the '80-17 formula' won't work in 2027. He said the SP won't decide the seats that the Congress will contest. I believe that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, and Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi can take such a decision. I don't know when the Congress gave Masood the power to make such calls. The top leadership of the Congress will decide based on the ground reality. * How many seats will the SP be willing to leave for the Congress? Akhilesh Yadav will decide that. We are Samajwadis, we follow our leader … Those falling into the BJP's trap can speculate on such things. We won't fall into these traps.
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Privatisation of higher edu a ploy to keep PDA out of jobs: Akhilesh Yadav
1 2 3 Lucknow: Charging the BJP govt of encouraging private universities to take over higher education in the state, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday said this was being done to keep the PDA out of jobs. He said education in private universities will be costly and the PDA community – comprising Pichhde (Backward classes) Dalits and Alpsankhyak (Minorities) – will not be able to afford it and will be pushed out of the race for jobs."Higher education in private universities will be a costly affair. The youth from the PDA community – which mainly comprise poor and deprived – will not be able to afford education at these universities. As a result, they will automatically be pushed out of the race for job opportunities. This in turn will also deprive them of reservation as well," Akhilesh said."As it is, the BJP has turned qualified youths into delivery boys. They don't want the youth to get an affordable education. To make things difficult for young people who are poor, the BJP is pushing for privatization. This will hit the PDA in two ways: Private universities will not give reservations in jobs; hence, PDA will be deprived of reservation. Then education at these private universities will be costly and most of the PDA youths will not be able to afford it. It is BJP's ploy to keep PDA out of reservation benefits and higher education that can fetch jobs," Akhilesh said with such bias of the BJP govt , the 2027 assembly elections will be a "Yogi versus Pratiyogi" (CM Yogi versus youths competing for government jobs) accused the BJP govt of having failed to check corruption. "Systematic and organized corruption is rampant under the BJP government, and nothing has been done to curb it. People are aware how an IAS officer had publicly sought commission. An IPS officer had forced a factory owner to pay money to run a stone crushing factory forcing him to commit suicide. These are the examples that have come out in the open and are a matter of record. Imagine what is going on behind the scenes," Akhilesh said addressing a conference of Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha at the party SP chief called upon the members of the Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha – party's student wing – to fan out across the state and tell the people, particularly the PDA community, how privatisation of higher education will harm the poor. On poor state of healthcare, Akhilesh said people hailing from CM's home district of Gorakhpur are compelled to come over to the cancer institute in Lucknow for treatment for lack of doctors and infrastructure. "This explains the condition of healthcare in CM's district. One can imagine the condition in the rest of the state," he said.
