Akhilesh Yadav Invoking Dalits Ahead of UP Polls, Says UP Minister Ramapati Shastri

The Uttar Pradesh Social Welfare Minister Ramapati Shastri on Friday accused Samajwadi Chief Akhilesh Yadav of being ‘anti-Dalit’ and said all decisions taken by the previous SP government were testimony to this fact.

In a statement on Saturday, he said that no matter how many statements Yadav made in the favour of Dalits from the point of view of elections, during his chief ministership, he worked against the community. “The deprived section of the society would never forget this and give a befitting reply in the elections,” he said.

Shastri said that Yadav, during his tenure as the chief minister, had renamed all those districts which were named after Dalit icons by former CM Mayawati.

BSP leader Mayawati, when she was the chief minister, had created three new districts and had decided to change the names of eight districts. Of these, Bhimnagar, Prabuddhanagar and Panchsheelnagar came into existence in 2011, whose names were changed by Akhilesh to Sambhal, Shamli and Hapur, respectively.

Simultaneously, the names of four other districts changed by Mayawati, namely Ramabai Nagar, Mahamaya Nagar, Kanshiram Nagar and Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj were reverted to Kanpur Dehat, Hathras, Kasganj and Amethi, respectively.

“Not only this, the changed name of King George Medical University located in Lucknow by Mayawati government to “Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University” was also changed by Yadav who restored its old name again under SP rule, “pointed out the senior UP Minister”. Similarly, he said, the SP government changed the name of Bhimrao Ambedkar Harit Park in Gomtinagar, Lucknow to Janeshwar Mishra Park.

Shastri added that during the Yadav’s tenure, his anti-Dalit face had surfaced in front of everyone. “During his reign, mafia-goons used to exploit Dalits and when they went to the police with their complaints, neither FIR was registered nor any action was taken. Akhilesh’s pro-Dalit face is a sham and he has no right to even talk about Dalits, ” he said.

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