'Assi harao, BJP hatao', new SP slogan for 2024 LS polls

"Assi harao, BJP hatao (defeat BJP on all 80 UP Lok Sabha seats and oust it)" is the new Samajwadi Party slogan for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav has said that if the BJP was to be removed from the seat of power in 2024, then Uttar Pradesh voters should ensure its defeat on all Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Uttar Pradesh sends 80 Lok Sabha members to Parliament.

Earlier, when some BJP leaders had made statements that their party would win all 80 LS seats in the state, Akhilesh said that the BJP would lose all 80 seats.

He also said that the SP and its allies would win all 80 seats.

Targeting the BJP government, Akhilesh said, "The BJP government does not do what it says and does not say what it does. The UP chief minister vows zero-tolerance against corruption but under him, corruption and crime are patronised. Corruption has risen 10 times in the state."

In a statement, Akhilesh also said that under the Yogi Adityanath government, the law-and-order situation in Uttar Pradesh was "becoming worse."

"Police are registering an FIR against the ruling party MP. Policemen were involved in robbing of silver... stolen goods are being recovered from the police station... What a double-engine government of the BJP...," Yadav said.

He was apparently referring to the registration of an FIR against BJP's Kannauj MP Subrat Pathak for allegedly assaulting police personnel and the recovery of silver from a policeman's house.

Of the 80 Lok Sabha seats, the SP had only won five in 2019 and lost two of them -- Rampur and Azamgarh -- to the BJP in the by-elections.

In 2014 LS polls too, the SP could win only five seats.

Yadav further said in the statement, "In the BJP government, 'UP ease of doing' means murder, rape, loot and corruption. Were MoUs for the supply and manufacturing of country-made pistols signed in the Investor Summit? Is training for crime being provided under skill development? Instead of providing security and facilities to traders, there is freedom for extortion and ransom."

The SP chief also alleged that corruption flourished under the BJP rule in Uttar Pradesh.

"Why is the chief minister not seeing what is happening right under his nose? Is there any involvement at a higher level? Why is the chief minister not remembering the claim of zero tolerance for crime and corruption?" he asked.

Meanwhile, reacting to Yadav's statement that the SP would win all 80 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 general elections, BJP MP Harnath Singh Yadav said, "Leave alone the claims of winning 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, just win only one Lok Sabha seat, Varanasi. If your party does this, I will retire from politics and resign from the Rajya Sabha membership."