Sambhal: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday claimed the BJP will not win any seat in the third phase of the Lok Sabha polls and that the ruling party misunderstood the “direction of the wind” when it made its slogan of “400 paar”.
Addressing a rally in Sambhal, Mr Yadav also said the Samajwadi Party had an advantage in the third phase, saying that elections on May 7 will be held between Sambhal and “his home” in Etawah and Mainpuri.
"BJP people did not know the direction of the wind, so they kept saying ‘400 paar' (winning over 400 seats) and when they realised the public sentiment after the two phases of the election, BJP forgot its slogan,” the former UP chief minister said.
"The wind that came from the west (western UP) in the first phase will change the BJP government. The similar trend was seen in the second phase also. People are not accepting the BJP,” the SP chief said.
“It is now your responsibility in the third phase,” he added to those gathered for the rally taken out in support of party candidate Zia ur Rahman Barq.
"These elections are being held from this part till our home. Netaji (SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav) has also been an MP from this area (Sambhal). Voting is going to take place from here to Mainpuri. I can say that the BJP is not going to open its account in any Lok Sabha seat here,” Mr Yadav said.
Mulayam Singh, an ex-CM and the SP chief's father, was elected an MP from Sambhal Lok Sabha constituency twice in 1998 and 1999.
"Next to you, Samajwadi Party is winning in Rampur and Moradabad and if all the Lok Sabha seats nearby are winning, then will the people of Sambhal be left behind?" "When the seats where BJP lost with the highest number of votes are counted, the name of Sambhal Lok Sabha should be included in that count also,” he further urged the voters.
Mr Yadav also said the election in Sambhal are an opportunity to pay tribute to party MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq, who was declared as the SP candidate but died earlier this year.
“We gave the ticket to the very popular Shafiqur Rahman Barq Saheb but he is no longer with us. This is an opportunity to pay tribute to him… He always stood for the rights of his people,” he said.
The SP chief also said that the Lok Sabha polls are a fight between those that want to “abolish the Constitution” and the INDIA bloc and the socialists who want to protect the Constitution.
"Bharatiya Janata Party is conspiring to abolish the Constitution and take away our and your right to vote. So this is an election to save the Constitution and our rights,” he said.
Those who are out to change the Constitution will be changed by the public, the SP leader said.
Asserting that the BJP insulted the farmers, Mr Yadav said, "The INDIA alliance government will waive off the loans of farmers. We will provide facilities to farmers.We will guarantee MSP for crops.” He added that the BJP betrayed the youth just like the farmers. “It was promised to provide two crore jobs every year to the youth. Ever since BJP came to government, papers of every recruitment exam are being leaked,” the SP leader said.
Mr Yadav said that the BJP government has "abolished permanent recruitment in the Army" and "introduced the Agniveer scheme and made it a four-year job".
Mr Yadav said he was worried that under the current government, even policemen may be asked to serve for only three years like the Agniveer.
In Uttar Pradesh, voting took place on eight seats in the first phase on April 19 and eight seats in the second phase on April 26, and most of these seats were in Western Uttar Pradesh.
In the third phase, voting will be held on 10 seats in Sambhal, Hathras, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Badaun, Amla and Bareilly on May 7.
Voting is scheduled to be held in all seven phases on 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)