With the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections drawing closer, Icchadhari Hindus are all set to use the Hindutva tag to encash the vote share of Hindus of UP. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party, terrified of the power of the Hindu vote bank, is trying to learn the art of wooing Hindus.
Akhilesh, who once defied Hindu interests for Muslim appeasement, has suddenly become the biggest Hindu. He has probably learned the art of appeasement from his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. Now the father-son duo is working round the clock to project the Samajwadi Party as Hindu friendly. Akhilesh has started projecting his father as a devotee of Pawanputra Hanuman and himself as a devotee of Lord Parashuram, which clearly indicates that the duo is aware of the importance of the Hindu vote as well as Hindutva in the state.
As per the reports of TOI, earlier this week, Akhilesh said that he was a ‘better Hindu’ than BJP leaders. He said he did not agree with the BJP’s definition of a Hindu that divides the society and spread hatred. Akhilesh also stated that the temples have been a part of the Yadav house in Saifai for a long time. “Netaji has been worshipping Hanuman … why only we are asked such questions? Only BJP is Hindu?” he asked.
Akhilesh also claimed that the people of UP are furious with the BJP government over its failures in governance and the anger might now result in over 400 seats now for the SP.
Hitting back, Chief Minister said that the BJP government has done what the SP couldn’t even dream of. Yogi Adityanath said, “We had said Ram Lala ham ayenge, mandir wahin banayenge. Temple construction has started. His abbajan (father) used to say – ham parinde ko bhi par nahi marne denge.”
The then Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had ordered police firing on the kar sevaks in 1990 and had later justified it.
Under his rule, Akhilesh Yadav had decided to withdraw cases filed against 16 prominent Muslim leaders who were involved in the Muzaffarnagar riots, the names include BSP MP Kadir Rana and Congress MP Saeed-uz-Zaman amongst others. Following his anti-Hindu instance and Muslim appeasement for the vote share, the former UP CM had also brought in many new welfare schemes which benefitted members of the Muslim community.
Samajwadi Party sailed its boats in Uttar Pradesh with Muslim appeasement but after the 2017 assembly elections, the Muslim vote bank has been shattered. After reading into the perception of the people, Akhilesh has started calling SP a Hindutva party.
As reported by TFI, before the general election in 2019, Akhilesh Yadav had declared that he will build a magnificent Vishnu temple in the Chambal region. With this announcement, Akhilesh Yadav wanted to put on a new gimmick of soft-Hindutva with the end goal of wooing Hindu voters to his party. However, the temple, as announced by Akhilesh Yadav, would be constructed in Etawah on the condition that the people of the state bring SP back to power in UP.
Read more: Akhilesh Yadav, Priyanka Vadra and Sanjay Singh to convert to Hindusim before UP elections
Akhilesh Yadav’s appeasement politics will not work on Hindus and specifically Brahmin voters. Samajwadi Party needs to realize that by embracing Hindutva right before the elections will eventually result in a bigger loss as the party will end up losing Muslim votes too.