Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday launched a furious attack on the Uttar Pradesh government for discrimination in the state’s police administration over caste-based discrimination against the poor and fake encounters have been organized on a caste basis, he said. At a press conference in Lucknow, he also raised questions over a recent custodial death in Badaun and accused the government of failing to respond to the security forces and of not taking any steps to tackle the problems of law enforcement, a case of police has been highlighted.
Yadav specifically targeted the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) and claimed that it was being used in a way that had a disproportionate impact on some sections of society. In a pointed remark, he put the acronym STF in the context of ‘Swajatiya Torture Force’ and claimed that the people belonging to the PDA group (backward classes, Dalits, and minorities) were being persecuted.
The Samajwadi Party leader linked his claims with the recent death of a Dalit youth inside a police station in Badaun. Yadav questioned the circumstances behind the death and claimed that caste biases were influencing the functioning of the police administration. He also mentioned figures about the social background of Station House Officers in the district to substantiate his claim of caste imbalance in the police system.
Yadav also questioned the official version of the Badaun custodial death. The police explanation that the youth died of cardiac arrest, he said, contradicted CCTV footage from the police station. His comments added to the political debate about the incident, though the opposition leader’s claims remain claims that need to be examined and verified.
The SP chief also mentioned an alleged incident in Varanasi of a Dalit man named Ramjanam. Yadav said it was the chief minister's caste who beat the man to death. He used it to bolster his larger claim that caste identity was playing a key role in the state’s law-and-order system.
Another major allegation was made by Yadav about encounters by the police. Yadav alleged some encounters in Uttar Pradesh had been carried out on the basis of caste and warned that such incidents would be investigated if the political leadership in the state changes. Yadav also claimed that discrimination exists in the police department itself, including against people belonging to the PDA communities.
And in addition to law and order, Yadav also raised concerns about the electoral process of Uttar Pradesh in the last stages of preparation for the next assembly elections. He accused the BJP of preparing for another voter revision exercise after the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR. Yadav said the process could involve the registration of migrants from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand as voters in Uttar Pradesh. He also mentioned Form 7 and said another revision exercise could be done before the state elections.
The Samajwadi Party chief said his party will up its election preparations and start a booth-level campaign from Tuesday. The announcement indicates that the party is already turning its organisational agenda towards the next election and that voter rolls and booth-level mobilisation will be key political issues to contend with.
Yadav also questioned the Uttar Pradesh government on investment and industrial development. He called for more clarity on the progress of investment memorandums of understanding signed by the state and claimed that the government has not adequately reviewed how much promised investment had actually materialised. He also claimed that some industrialists were unhappy with the situation.
Education was another issue raised by the SP chief. Yadav said about 26,000 schools had been shut down by the state government. On Teachers' Day, he said his party would organise programmes in schools and use the occasion to highlight what he said are the government's education-related failures.
Flooding and waterlogging were his top criticisms. Yadav said he was with flood-ravaged people of Uttar Pradesh and expressed concern over waterlogging in Prayagraj. He questioned the cost incurred by the government and said it wasn’t solved.
In a parallel political comment, Yadav criticized a state government official for comments about Spain and Venice and used the comparison to attack what he described as a lack of understanding of urban development and infrastructure issues.
Yadav also touched on the controversy surrounding an alleged purification ritual at a venue after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge visited the place and the FIR against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. He said members of his own party had seen similar incidents in the past, including an alleged incident in Kannauj where a temple was washed with Ganga water after their departure.
The SP believed in a progressive and positive approach and rejected practices he described as discriminatory. The state should move forward as it is, he said, to develop, to be more equal, and to ensure all communities' welfare.
Yadav’s sprawling press conference brought together several political issues such as policing, caste representation, electoral rolls, investment, education, flooding, and alleged discrimination. His allegations will only fuel the political tension between the Samajwadi Party and the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government as preparations for the next state election take place. The police conduct and custodial deaths are only allegations, and these will be established through investigations and official processes.
