Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the central and Uttar Pradesh governments, alleging that a concerted bid is going on to weaken the Constitution. On the death anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, addressing a gathering in Agra, Yadav said the Constitution drafted by Dr Ambedkar is the “book of destiny” for the PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak -- Backward, Dalit, Minority) communities, and warned that attempts to undermine it are intensifying.
Without this Constitution, he said, the deprived sections would have faced “unimaginable hardships”. He accused “dominant forces” of repeatedly insulting the PDA communities. He also mentioned the incident of shoes thrown in the Supreme Court, saying it reflects this attitude.
Yadav cautioned that weakening the Constitution would endanger both democracy and reservation. “People with autocratic thinking want to run the country with their own mindset,” he alleged. The SP chief also levelled serious allegations regarding the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
He claimed that there appears to be a greater focus on deleting names rather than adding them. “For the first time, we are hearing that a constitutional institution is more interested in removing votes than registering them,” he said, urging citizens to verify their names in the voter list.
Claiming that the SP will receive “historic support” in the upcoming Agra Assembly elections, Yadav said the Agra Metro and the expressway were achievements of the Samajwadi government. “The BJP’s double-engine government has not been able to build even a single such road,” he added.
He also criticised the BJP government for the state of the Yamuna River, calling it “reduced to a drain”. He promised that if voted to power, the SP government would clean the Yamuna on the lines of the Gomti River and develop a riverfront in Agra.
Yadav said the SP has strengthened its election strategy and will field only those candidates who genuinely serve the public. He added that Agra’s cultural identity -- linked to the Taj Mahal, the Dargah, and its famed craftsmanship -- would be promoted further.
After offering a chadar at the Dargah of Sheikh Salim Chishti in Fatehpur Sikri, Yadav said the shrine symbolises India’s composite culture. “Our Indianness resides in this shared culture and brotherhood,” he said. He prayed for peace, progress, and harmony in the country and also visited monuments, including the Buland Darwaza.