Lucknow, Aug 13 (PTI): Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday alleged that the BJP has been left with “nothing but money” to win the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, reacting to media reports about a possible announcement of Rs 20,000 dole for women in the state.
BJP Uttar Pradesh vice-president Neeraj Singh hit back at Yadav, saying his party has made no such announcement and accused the SP chief of making a “deceptive” promise of giving Rs 40,000 to women.
Yadav, in a post on X, described the reported proposal as “another jumla” of the BJP and alleged that the money being offered was “the earnings of its sins.”
“The BJP has nothing left except money to win elections. That too is the BJP’s ill-gotten money, which the religious-minded women of Uttar Pradesh will never accept,” he said.
The SP chief also questioned the BJP’s record in states where, he claimed, similar financial assistance was announced before elections.
“Awakened women of Uttar Pradesh are asking that in the other states where elections were won after announcing money for women, on one hand they are reluctant to give it, while on the other they are demanding the money back. And against women who are unable to return it, the BJP is taking the reprehensible route of police stations, courts and cases,” Yadav said. “Today, the BJP government is talking about giving Rs 50,000 annually, but it could have given this money during the last 10 years as well, but it did not,” he said.
Yadav also repeated the news reports’ claim to say that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government spent “thousands of crores of rupees meant for the rights and entitlements of women” on publicity.
He calculated that Rs 50,000 annually over 10 years would amount to Rs 5 lakh and said the Rs 20,000 proposal would be only four per cent of that amount.
“The BJP’s corrupt government has eaten up Rs 5 lakh belonging to women over the last 10 years and is now serving the jumla of giving only Rs 20,000. Rs 20,000 is only four per cent of Rs 5 lakh, which means these BJP people have swallowed 96 per cent of women’s share,” he alleged.
The SP chief also said that even if the BJP gave Rs 20,000, the government would still owe the public Rs 4.8 lakh, “if the jumla of Rs 15 lakh is left aside.”
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister alleged that BJP workers had gone “underground” due to fear of public anger and that the party was relying on money because it had lost face.
“After theft in the temple and attacks on children, the BJP has neither morality nor courage left,” he said.
In his post, Yadav repeated his party’s promise: “We will start with Rs 40,000, with an increase every year.”
Responding to Yadav, Singh told PTI that the BJP had not announced any such scheme.
“Whenever the BJP provides benefits under its schemes to eligible people, the important thing is that the money reaches those who are entitled to it. The distribution system is also very transparent, and this has been the BJP’s track record,” he said.
He accused the opposition party of objecting to each of the BJP’s welfare measures for women, and cited the Women’s Reservation Act, or Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, as an example of the party’s efforts to increase women’s participation in politics.
‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ was also one of the moves aimed at women’s empowerment, he said.
On the SP’s promise of Rs 40,000 annually to women, Singh said it was “only a deception” and alleged that the party had used a similar tactic before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“The public understood that it was deceived. Today’s statement is also a deception with the people, aimed at covering up the development work done by the BJP,” he said.