Only regional parties and their leaders can stop the BJP: Akhilesh Yadav

Hyderabad: Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said only regional parties and their leaders can “stop the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)” in the country.

Addressing a press conference at Pragathi Bhavan along with Telangana State Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Mr Yadav said the SP had already proved this in Uttar Pradesh by winning the recent Lok Sabha bypolls with the help of other regional parties.

Mr Yadav also provided clear hints that he wants a front to defeat the BJP in the 2019 general elections, though he neither named the Congress nor made adverse comments on the party. Instead, Mr Yadav appreciated Mr KCR’s efforts to unite all regional parties in India to bring about a qualitative change in Indian politics and expressed the SP’s complete support for this effort.

Mr Yadav also said Mr KCR has won the trust of the people of Telangana with his “sincere and committed work”, especially in sectors such as drinking water (Mission Bhagiratha) and agricultural irrigation.

“India has not made the desired progress in the last seven decades. This is because successive governments failed to deliver. KCRji is making an effort to create a qualitative change in Indian politics by bringing together political parties. He says this is not a mere political front but an alignment of parties who follow progressive thoughts and ideologies,” Mr Yadav said.

Asked about his friendship with Congress president Rahul Gandhi and whether he wants the Congress to be part of the new front, he said, “We are not proposing any such thing at the moment. There will be further meetings as elections approach. Time will tell how this shapes up.”

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister was critical about the BJP, saying it has failed to fulfil all of its poll promises since 2014. “There is a big list of promises from the BJP. They made promises to Bihar and UP during the Assembly elections. I’m sure they have made promises to Telangana, too. However, all of them remain unfulfilled. And now there is no time left,” he said. 

“People across the country are disappointed with the BJP. In the recent UP bypolls, we proved that people are ready to sail with regional parties provided we offer a strong alternative to the BJP. We have made a beginning,” he added.