Opposition Leaders Turn to Dramatic Imagery: Haldighati, Mohabbat Ki Dukan, Kurukshetra

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav described Ramlila Maidan as the Haldighati of democracy and said the rally should make the BJP nervous, as it had once again demonstrated that people wanted a change and that it was imminent. “Those who came to power at the Centre through Uttar Pradesh will also be ousted from there,” he declared.

He said the time would soon come when those who spoke of the unshakeable ‘foot of Angad’ would be left wondering where to plant their foot, as there would be no ground left for them to stand on.

Addressing the INDIA bloc rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan against the alleged deletion of names from electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh, Yadav sought to turn the issue into a major political campaign ahead of the state Assembly elections. The SP chief claimed that while the public meeting was being organised at Ramlila Maidan, reports emerged that the names of 1.27 lakh Hindu voters had been deleted from the electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh, amounting to a reduction of 31,000 votes in every Assembly constituency.

His remarks appeared to be an attempt to give the electoral roll controversy the shape of an election campaign in Uttar Pradesh and, perhaps, set the political narrative for the Congress as well.

Yadav asserted that attempts were being made to shift the blame for electoral defeats onto others.

“We, in the INDIA alliance, will not stop. If we were unable to form the government in 2022, it was because of this very theft,” he said.

Taking another swipe at the BJP, the SP chief said those who once boasted of making India a ‘Vishwaguru’ were now busy manipulating electoral rolls. He asserted that people would come forward to save democracy and that the movement would begin in Uttar Pradesh.

Maintaining that political change was inevitable, Yadav said ‘parivartan’ could come at any time.

“Those who came to power through UP will be ousted from there. And the people of UP, who are good at welcoming others, are even better at giving them a send-off,” he added.