"Electoral bond ne BJP ka band baja diya": SP chief Akhilesh Yadav

Kannauj (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 25 (ANI): With just a few hours left for the country to enter its second phase of Lok Sabha elections, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav took a jab at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the electoral bonds issue and said that the public is going to vote against the BJP in the elections this time.
"Electoral bond ne BJP ka band baja diya, electoral bond ki news sunte hi BJP ko 'electral' ki yaad aa jati hain. The public is going to vote against the BJP this time," SP chief Yadav told ANI.
Speaking to ANI on the second phase, poll day, the SP chief said, "I want to appeal to the people to vote for a change. I urge all the voters to cast their franchise against those who gave unemployment and those who have lied in front of the people. Vote against those who gave false promises, because of whom farmers' incomes could not increase."
"If there is anyone responsible for the bad reputation that has been brought to India in the world, it is BJP. Inhone, form zyada jama karwai, tax kam jama karwaya," he alleged.
Adding further he said, "Electoral bond ne BJP ka band baja diya, electoral bond ki news sunte hi BJP ko electral ki yaad aa jati hain. The public is going to vote against the BJP this time."
The SP chief also exuded confidence of getting support from the people of the constituency from where he is contesting.
"Kannauj is a place that is connected to the ideology of the Samajwadi Party. The people of Kannauj have seen development and the work of the Samajwadi Party. This time the public will show full support towards the Samajwadi Party," he said.
Yadav filed his nomination from Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj Lok Sabha seat on Thursday.
Akhilesh Yadav served as Lok Sabha MP from 2000-2012. He resigned from the Kannauj parliamentary seat in 2012 after he became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
In 2017, his party was unable to form a government in UP and he submitted his resignation to the Governor. He was elected Lok Sabha MP in 2019 and went on to be elected to the UP Assembly in 2022.
Following the UP Assembly polls, Yadav resigned as Lok Sabha MP and retained his state assembly seat.
Voting on the Kannauj seat will be held in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha election on May 13.
Earlier, the party declared Tej Pratap Yadav, Akhilesh's nephew and son-in-law of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, as its candidate.
As per the seat agreement between the Samajwadi Party and Congress in Uttar Pradesh, Congress is contesting on 17 seats and the Samajwadi Party has the remaining 63 seats in the electorally crucial state.
In the 2019 general elections, the BJP emerged triumphant, securing 62 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, supplemented by two seats clinched by its ally Apna Dal (S).
Mayawati's BSP managed to secure 10 seats, while Akhilesh Yadav's SP garnered five. Conversely, the Congress party secured only one seat. (ANI)