look news india
These days the statement ‘Revenue to Rupee’ has created a stir in the political circles of Uttar Pradesh. A controversial statement recently given by Samajwadi Party National President and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has created a stir in the politics of Western Uttar Pradesh (Jatland). After this statement, not only Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) but also Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and other opposition parties have come into aggressive mode. Such posters and hoardings have suddenly been put up on the streets of many districts of Western UP and the capital Lucknow, on which a scathing attack has been made by linking this statement of the SP chief with the Jat community and regional self-respect. Just before the upcoming assembly elections, this sharp poster war and the echo of caste statements have completely heated up the politics of the state, due to which the strategists of Samajwadi Party are now busy in damage control.
What was that ‘Chavanni’ statement which has created such a huge controversy?
This entire political controversy started with a statement in which Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had taken a jibe at his old political colleagues without naming them. During a party program, Akhilesh Yadav had said that the people whom he promoted politically and made ‘money from rupees’, left him when the need arose. Political analysts and the opposition linked this statement directly to RLD chief and Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary. Since Rashtriya Lok Dal has influence and deep penetration among the Jat community in western Uttar Pradesh, this comment was directly linked to the honor and respect of the Jat community and the self-respect of the farmers. RLD leaders and workers refused to tolerate this and lodged a strong protest, after which the political excitement in Jatland has reached its peak.
Poster war and banners ‘abuse everyone, insult everyone’ in Jatland
The posters put up overnight in major cities like Meerut, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar, Hapur, Ghaziabad and Lucknow have further fueled the controversy. The name of any particular party or individual is not written on these posters, but they directly target the Samajwadi Party and its top leadership. At the top of the posters, it is written in big letters – ‘Abuse of all, insult of all, this is the identity of Samajwadi Party’. Apart from Akhilesh Yadav’s ‘Chavanni’ statement, old controversial statements given by other SP leaders regarding different castes like Brahmin, Rajbhar, Nishad and Thakur communities have also been mentioned. Analysts believe that all this is a deliberate strategy ahead of the upcoming rallies and conferences to remind the voters of western UP how the opposition parties have time and again hurt the sentiments of various communities.
Sharp counterattack by RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary and BSP supremo Mayawati
On this entire incident, Rashtriya Lok Dal President Jayant Choudhary gave a strong retort and said that democracy is paramount in politics and it is the public that makes or breaks everyone. He said that if a political battle had to be fought, names would have been talked about, but targeting the entire Jat community as ‘Chavanni’ and showing arrogance that we have taught ABCD is highly condemnable and such conduct ultimately leads to downfall. On the other hand, BSP supremo Mayawati also jumped into this controversy and strongly attacked Akhilesh Yadav. Mayawati said that SP’s character has always been narrow and full of casteist hatred towards its allies and opposition parties. He demanded from Akhilesh Yadav to immediately apologize to the Jat community for this indecent and arrogant comment, as it has insulted the farmers and the heritage of Chaudhary Charan Singh’s family.
Samajwadi Party’s damage control and its big impact on the upcoming elections
Due to increasing political pressure and to save its PDA (Backward, Dalit, Minority) equation in Western Uttar Pradesh, damage control efforts have now intensified within the Samajwadi Party. Taking the lead through social media, senior SP leader Shivpal Yadav has reminded the party’s old and deep respect for the country’s former Prime Minister and farmer messiah Chaudhary Charan Singh. He has tried to show that Samajwadi Party has always been well-wishers of farmers and rural society. Despite this, this ‘Chavanni politics’ and poster war is not showing any signs of stopping before the rallies of RLD and SP to be held in Saharanpur and other districts in the coming month of September. It will be very interesting to see how the voters of Western Uttar Pradesh respond to this rhetoric in the coming elections and what direction the political direction of Jatland takes.