Pratapgarh (Uttar Pradesh): Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya launched a scathing attack on Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, accusing him of betraying socialist ideals by aligning with the Congress, the party responsible for imposing the Emergency in 1975.
“True socialists went to jail for opposing the Emergency. Today, Akhilesh Yadav is siding with the forces that imposed it. It only proves that he is not a genuine socialist. If he were one, he would never have aligned with the Congress. People will turn the Samajwadi Party into a ‘Samaptwadi’ (finished) Party,”
Maurya said while speaking to media at Sai Complex in Pratapgarh Police Lines.
Maurya was in Pratapgarh to attend a felicitation ceremony for ‘democracy fighters’, those who were jailed during the Emergency, and also participated in a plantation programme.
Marking the 50th anniversary of the Emergency imposed by the Congress, Maurya said:
“On this very day in 1975, the Congress had murdered the Constitution and democracy. The day is being observed as ‘Constitution Murder Day’. When the Congress declared Emergency 50 years ago, the media held a mirror to their actions as newspapers left their front pages blank in protest. The judiciary was stripped of its powers, and those who opposed the Emergency were jailed. The nation will never forget this dark chapter.”
Continuing his criticism of the SP-Congress alliance, Maurya dismissed SP’s performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections:
“Whatever little success they had in 2024 has now faded. The results in Haryana, Delhi, and Maharashtra have made things clear.”
When asked about the recent Etawah controversy involving two kathavachaks (religious narrators), Maurya said:
“What happened was wrong. Every religious platform deserves respect. Akhilesh Yadav tried to communalise the issue, which is unfortunate.”
Maurya’s comments come at a time of rising political heat between BJP and the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh, especially as the country remembers the declaration of Emergency as a turning point in Indian democratic history.