Preventing voters from casting votes a crime: Akhilesh Yadav warns BJP

A day before the fourth phase of polling for the general elections, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday warned the BJP not to come in the way of the public and said preventing voters from casting their votes is also a crime.

The Shahjahanpur, Kheri, Dhaurahara, Sitapur, Hardoi, Misrikh, Unnao, Farrukhabad, Etawah, Kannauj, Kanpur, Akbarpur and the Bahraich constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will go the polls on Monday.

Yadav said in a post in Hindi on X, "The BJP is warned not to come in the way of the public. Preventing voters from casting their votes is also a crime. The public has come to know about the conspiracy hatched by the BJP to prevent people from casting their votes by misusing power. BJP supporters are bent on violence..."

"Samajwadi Party supporters will cast their votes in the face every oppression and violence. Tomorrow (Monday), when millions of people will come out to defeat the BJP in Kannauj and all other seats, let us see how the BJP can stop them by using force. The BJP's electoral scams have been exposed and a round of allegations and counter-allegations has started within the BJP," he said, adding that the saffron party is losing the Lok Sabha elections.

"That is why some people who were supporting the BJP due to fear or greed have also backed out after seeing the public's anger," he said.

Yadav is contesting the elections from Kannauj. He held the seat between 2000 and 2012.

The Samajwadi Party is contesting the Lok Sabha elections in an alliance with the Congress, another opposition INDIA bloc constituent, in Uttar Pradesh.

"The public is secretly ready to take videos and photos and names of people with criminal tendencies and dishonest officials. As soon as the government changes, everyone will be identified and punished for their crimes. Such people who support the BJP government, which has become an enemy of the public, will not be able to face their own people," Yadav said.

Appealing to the electorate, he said, "Come out to vote without fear and ensure victory for the Samajwadi Party, Congress and other candidates of the INDIA bloc.