Afraid of PDA, BJP ‘rejected’ Parl-cleared women quota bill: Akhilesh | Lucknow News

Lucknow: Accusing the BJP of being afraid of the PDA community, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said Parliament cleared the 33% reservation bill for women in 2023, but the BJP-led Central govt has rejected it, seeking an amendment.“The PDA community comprising Pichde (Backward classes), Dalit and Alpsankhyak (Minorities) is standing firm with SP, and this has left the BJP scared. The fear of being defeated in the Assembly elections has left the BJP rattled. The party is resorting to anarchy. BJP is misleading the people about the women reservation bill. The fact is that Parliament cleared the 33% reservation for women bill in 2023 itself. The BJP is not approving the bill,” Akhilesh said, addressing party functionaries at SP headquarters in Lucknow on Saturday.Holding the BJP responsible for the “poor state of economic affairs in the country”, Akhilesh said it was a result of BJP’s faulty policies that the value of the rupee was falling as compared to the US dollar every passing day. He said the BJP govt has lost people’s confidence.Akhilesh called upon the cadres to strengthen the booths and conduct mass contact programmes to inform the people how govt has shut schools across the state, duped farmers by reducing the quantity of fertilisers in bags and increasing the cost of crop production. He asked the functionaries to inform the people about the party’s plans to offer free education from KG (kindergarten) to PG (post graduation), free electricity for irrigation and plans to give a monthly stipend to poor women.‘BJP fleecing public through pre-paid meters’Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said the BJP govt was fleecing people in the garb of pre-paid meters.“They (BJP) are taking money out of poor man’s pockets through pre-paid meters. The BJP is misusing technology to deprive people of their hard-earned money through pre-paid and smart meters,” Akhilesh said, adding that people have caught the BJP stealing and the common man was angry about it.He urged cadres to take up the issue in their mass contact campaigns.