With 22 charges against BJP, SP to hold protests in UP

Lucknow: Armed with 22 charges against the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party will now hold demonstrations and rallies on the 22nd of every month in the state.

The protests and rallies will be held at tehsil level and will be led by the Samajwadi Party (SP) MLAs, MPs and other senior leaders.

A decision to this effect was taken at the party’s national executive meeting in Lucknow on Saturday where the leadership also discussed a ‘charge-sheet’ against the BJP government at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh.

Significantly, party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, his estranged younger brother Shivpal Yadav (who continues to be a SP member despite having floated his own party) and senior SP MP Mohammed Azam Khan, who is in jail, were missing. All three are founder members of the party.

The party, however, passed a resolution lambasting the BJP government for its politics of hate and cited police action against Azam Khan as an example.

The party condemned the manner in which police cases were lodged against Azam Khan. The party described FIRs as baseless and unfounded.

Senior SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said: “We will highlight 22 issues through these protests. A ‘cycle yatra’ will also be held on March 23 to mark the birth anniversary of socialist ideologue Dr Ram Manohar Lohia. We will reach out to people and tell them how BJP has failed on all fronts and is trying to portray development works of the SP government as its own achievements.”

IANS