Lucknow : Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday launched a sharp attack on the BJP, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's seven-point appeal to citizens in view of the ongoing West Asia crisis and to make India stronger and self-reliant was an "admission of failure" by the government, while also questioning the timing of the appeal after the elections.
He was responding to the Prime Minister's appeal made while addressing a gathering in Secunderabad on Sunday, urging citizens to prioritise work from home, cut fuel consumption, avoid foreign travel for a year, adopt Swadeshi products, reduce cooking oil use, shift to natural farming and curb gold purchases.
In a post on X, Yadav wrote, "As soon as the elections ended, the 'crisis' came to mind! In fact, there's only one 'crisis' for the country, and its name is: 'BJP'." Questioning the government's economic management, Yadav said, "If so many restrictions had to be imposed, how will the 'jumla economy of five trillion dollars' ever come about? It seems the reins have completely slipped from the hands of the BJP government."
"The dollar is touching the skies, and the country's rupee is hurtling toward the depths," he added. The remarks targeted Centre's claim that India will become the third-largest economy by 2027 and become a USD 5 trillion economy in the next three years.
On the Prime Minister's call to reduce gold purchases, the SP chief said the appeal should be directed at "their own corrupt people" rather than ordinary citizens.
"The public isn't buying 1.5 lakh tolas of gold anyway. It's the BJP loyalists who are busy gold-plating their black money," he said, adding, "If our point sounds wrong, just check from 'Lucknow to Gorakhpur' or from 'Ahmedabad to Guwahati'."
Yadav also questioned why the restrictions were announced only after the polls. He was referring to the BJP's extensive election campaign in the West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Keralam and Puducherry. "Weren't the thousands of charter flights the BJP folks took during the elections flying on water? Weren't they staying in hotels, or cooking meals with photos of cylinders? Why didn't the BJP do their election campaigning just through video conferencing? Are all these restrictions only for the public?"
He stated that such appeals would "spread fear along with panic, unease, and despair in trade, business, and the markets, due to apprehensions of recession or inflation." He said, "This kind of appeal will only spread fear along with panic, unease, and despair in trade, business, and the markets, due to apprehensions of recession or inflation. The government's job is to use its vast resources wisely to pull us out of emergency situations, not to spread fear or chaos."
Targeting the Centre's foreign policy, the Samajwadi Party leader claimed the BJP had departed from India's traditional non-aligned approach and pursued policies influenced by "specific pressures and interests"."If they can't run the government, the BJP folks should just admit their failure--don't ruin the country. In any case, the real reason for these circumstances is the BJP government's deviation from the country's traditional 'non-aligned' foreign policy, chasing certain groups due to some specific reasons and pressures," he stated.
According to him, the consequences were now visible in rising inflation, unemployment, recession and economic distress affecting farmers, labourers, youth, professionals and businesses alike. "The country's people are paying the price for this in the form of inflation, unemployment, joblessness, and recession. From farmers and labourers to every youth, every homemaker, every office-goer, professional, businessperson--everyone has been caught in its grip," Yadav said.
Calling the government's appeal an "admission of failure", Yadav said the BJP had failed on both domestic and foreign policy fronts. Yadav further accused the BJP of damaging the country across spheres, including damaging social harmony, culture, and religion.
He said, "The truth is, the BJP has failed in both foreign policy and domestic policy. This appeal is an admission of the BJP government's own failure. In fact, as soon as the votes came in, the BJP's flaws came to light. The BJP folks have polluted politics with their election-time scams; they've ruined social harmony by spreading hatred; with their conduct, they've sullied culture and values; they haven't spared religion either, with attacks and accusations against saints and sages--and now they're crying about the economy. In this way, the BJP has wrecked the country in every sphere--cultural, religious, political, social, and economic."
Concluding, Yadav claimed growing public anger against the BJP could no longer be contained through "electoral management", "After this appeal, the sudden surge of public outrage that has boiled over cannot be managed by the BJP with any election-time fix; now the BJP is done for good. The nation says today: We don't want BJP anymore!", the post read.