SP chief says no alliance breaks; party to unveil youth manifesto for U.P. polls
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav said on Saturday that his party will not break alliances, asserting that its political battle is against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which he accused of following policies that benefit large business groups.
Speaking to reporters at the party headquarters in Lucknow, Mr. Yadav said the SP has always honoured its commitments. “The Samajwadi Party never breaks alliances. When we agree to move forward with others, we stand by them,” he said. He stated that the party’s objective is to form a government committed to social justice, based on socialist ideology and solidarity with the ‘PDA’ — ‘pichhda’ (backward classes), Dalits and ‘alpsankhyak’ (minorities).
His remarks came a day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the SP’s definition of ‘PDA’ was constantly changing, referring to the party’s outreach to Brahmins. Mr. Yadav also accused the State government of deliberately weakening primary education and shutting schools attended by children from disadvantaged communities. He said an SP government would revive the model schools project initiated during its previous tenure and strengthen school infrastructure and midday meal kitchens.
The SP plans to release a separate youth manifesto for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, focusing on education, employability, skill development and digital learning. Alok Ranjan, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary and an SP member, told The Hindu that the blueprint would propose model schools and colleges in districts, upgrading government inter-colleges, filling vacant sanctioned posts and introducing a time-bound recruitment calendar for teachers. “It will also overhaul school and university education, with a focus on employability in changing times, besides establishing skill-development institutions and promoting digital learning,” Mr. Ranjan said. The manifesto is also likely to propose an allowance for unemployed youth. Mr. Ranjan said the plan was “rooted in the SP’s socialist ideology”.
Meanwhile, a political row erupted over Mr. Yadav’s recent remark that the SP had “turned 25 paise into a rupee” but was later abandoned by its alliance partners, an apparent reference to the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national president Mayawati on Saturday demanded an apology from Mr. Yadav to the RLD and the Jat community, saying the remark was “indecent” and “shameful” and had insulted the family of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh. RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary also criticised Mr. Yadav, saying the SP chief could have named him rather than making a reference to the Jat community. “Such behaviour only leads to downfall,” he stated in a post on X.
The remarks followed criticism by SP State president Shyam Lal Pal of an unnamed ally for abandoning the party despite its support. Mr. Yadav’s comment alluded to Mr. Chaudhary’s 2022 remark that he was not a “chavanni” who could be easily flipped.
