Lucknow: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said his party workers will reach out to at least two crore 'PDA' families in the state and discuss with them issues related to social justice and reservation. PDA is an acronym for Pichde (backward classes), Dalit and Alpasankhyak (minorities) that was coined by Yadav.
With 80 Lok Sabha seats, Uttar Pradesh -- a politically crucial state -- will vote in all seven phases of the general election from April 19 to June 1. The votes will be counted on June 4. Matters related to economic and social inequality and its ill effects will also be taken up during the discussions, the Samajwadi Party (SP) president was quoted as saying in a party release.
Yadav said Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar showed the oppressed, exploited and deprived sections of society the way to live with dignity while Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia laid the foundation stone of social revolution with the principle of equality of opportunity. Yet the social inequality and discrimination prevalent in India exists nowhere else, he said.
The exploited class has seen a new ray of hope and faith through the PDA and socialist ideology, Yadav stressed. He alleged that under the BJP rule, atrocities especially on women, Dalits and minorities have increased. They are humiliated but the Samajwadi Party has been fighting the battle for the self-respect of this section and will continue to do so in future, he said.
Alleging that the BJP government has made a mockery of democratic values, Yadav said capitalists are flourishing but raising the voice of poor people has become a crime. In such a situation, the development of the country is possible only with proportionate participation of all sections. This goal can be achieved through caste census. Only when everyone gets rights and respect based on their numbers will real social justice be established, he said.
The BJP is basically against social justice, and so it is conspiring to end the reservation of backward people and Dalits. It takes their votes but does not want to give them rights, he said. To protect the rights and the dignity of the PDA, the Samajwadi Party-INDIA bloc is going to remove the BJP from power in the Lok Sabha elections, Yadav added.
