Govt looted public through GST, now doing ‘gimmicks’ to mislead people: Akhilesh

Lucknow, Sep 25 (PTI) Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the BJP government, accusing it of looting the public through GST collections, fuelling inflation and “doing gimmicks” instead of real work.

“The truth is, those who imposed GST and looted the treasury, collected it all, are today out doing 'Ganging' to mislead people. Tell me, after nine years, they suddenly realised that milk has become expensive, curd has become expensive, food items have become expensive, books have become expensive, clothes of the poor have become expensive,” Yadav told reporters here.

He was referring to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's visit to Hazratganj, where he met traders and interacted with them on the new GST. Visiting Hazratganj, a famous market in the heart of the city, is commonly called "Gang-ing".

“After nine years, how much have they collected through GST? Will there be any compensation? Traders say that on one hand they give some relief but on the other hand they increase GST and take it back. This is only to allow profiteering. Until profiteering is stopped, inflation will not come down,” he said.

Mocking recent tax cuts on consumer goods, Yadav said, “They reduced Rs 2 on a cream, Rs 3 or Rs 4 on a shampoo. If I am wrong, let the government say so. But tell me, what benefit does a farmer get if cream is cheaper by Rs 2? What employment did our youth get from the shower gel becoming cheaper? Which business grew? The government has no narrative, no programme left. That’s why they are only doing gimmicks.” Yadav said the SP, if voted to power in 2027, would revive the socialist “daam bandho” (price control) policy advocated by Ram Manohar Lohia and former party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

“We assure the people of Uttar Pradesh that essential items will be made affordable, whatever the cost. That is the socialist direction we will work in,” he said.

On the controversy over “I love Muhammad” posters, Yadav said it was a “very sensitive issue”.

“We must see who is at the root of it. If people start saying ‘I love you’ across religions, every problem will end,” he said.

Targeting the government over law and order, he alleged that in Kanpur, “criminals, police and BJP” had come together.

“Earlier, during elections, we used to see a trio of the Election Commission, government officials, and the BJP working together. Now in Kanpur, a step further, criminals, BJP and police are troubling people,” he said.

On removing caste references from police records, he said, “Caste is our first emotional connection. Reservation is on the basis of caste. Babasaheb Ambedkar gave reservation in the Constitution based on caste. The Mandal Commission also discussed this. BJP is scared of the unity of PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) and of the larger Bahujan unity, that is why they are running here and there.” Criticising the Centre on its stand against China, Yadav said, “From their mouth it is ‘swadeshi’ but in their heart it is ‘videshi’. Since 2014, it has been 11 years and you have not delivered any results. Today, we are at odds with all our neighbours.” PTI ABN AMJ AMJ