Lucknow: Hitting out at the BJP govt for ‘lecturing’ the opposition over its duties towards the people, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav dared the saffron brigade to name its leaders who had played a role in the freedom movement.“Yeh wo log hain jo azadi ke andolan mein nahi the (these people are not there in the freedom movement),” Akhilesh said, adding: “Ask them (BJP) to at least give a list (of leaders involved in the) freedom movement. If they love (India) so much, why aren’t they giving a list of (their leaders involved in) freedom movement” Akhilesh asked, responding to a specific media query.Akhilesh went on to question the allegiance of functionaries associated with BJP and its associate organisations during the freedom movement. “They were underground and were passing on information to the British,” Akhilesh said talking to the media on Aug 14.On Sunday, Akhilesh Yadav attacked the BJP-led govts at the Centre and in the state comparing the present administration with the pre-Independence times when he said youth and students along with others were still fighting for their rights today the way they did before Independence.He said during the freedom struggle, India did not have its own laws and people were deprived of their rights and honour. “Avantibai Lodhi – the great worrior – fought for this very freedom. At that time, the British were not giving Indians their right and today the situation is no different. Everybody has to fight against govts for their respective rights,” he said.Touching upon how govt imposed “adulterated” petrol by forcing upon people E-20 fuel (petrol blended with 20% ethanol), Akhilesh said the BJP wanted to shift focus from failure to check Naxalism and terrorism because of a flop foreign policy and instead of focusing on border security, was trying to divert attention by talking about delimitation.Akhilesh gives laptops to girl students on I-DayLucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav hoisted the national flag at the party office in Lucknow to mark India’s 80th Independence Day and distributed laptops among meritorious girl students from Pilibhit, Hardoi and Jaunpur.Addressing party workers, Akhilesh pledged to protect and strengthen the Indian Constitution and announced that he was ready to make any personal sacrifice for it. The SP chief challenged the govt’s claims of rapid economic growth stating that India lags behind major developed countries in terms of per capita metrics. He called upon cadres to carefully choose their words and avoid statements that could accidentally help rival parties in the run up to elections.
