‘Even Ravana spared sisters’: Akhilesh jabs BJP over free bus promise

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday accused the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government of deceiving women by allegedly failing to deliver on its promise of free bus travel on Raksha Bandhan, drawing a sharp comparison with the Hindu epic’s Ravana.

Yadav shared a video on X showing a mud-filled bus depot in Prayagraj, where, he claimed, women were struggling to find buses on the festival. He alleged that women across Uttar Pradesh complained of inadequate bus services, overcrowding and buses failing to stop at designated points despite the government's free-travel announcement.

The Uttar Pradesh government had announced free travel for women accompanied by one person on Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses from midnight on 27 August to midnight on 29 August to facilitate travel during Raksha Bandhan.

Authorities had also directed the transport department, police and local administrations to ensure safe and smooth movement of passengers during the festival.

In a pointed attack, Yadav said, “Even Ravana did not deceive his sisters the way they (BJP) have.” He accused the BJP and its associates of being “bigger liars than Dashanan”, referring to Ravana's 10 heads.

Yadav said Ravana deceived people only once by changing his disguise, whereas, according to him, the BJP repeatedly deceives people while remaining in the same guise.

The SP chief also claimed that the government had failed to keep its word despite the importance of Raksha Bandhan, and said the BJP's political fortunes would not improve regardless of how much “mud” it spreads.

In a separate post earlier on Friday, Yadav used a Hindi wordplay on bus and be-bas (helpless), writing “Be-bas behnein” (helpless sisters) and alleging that buses were withdrawn after the free-travel promise was made.

The video shared by Yadav was a compilation of purported social-media complaints from women in different parts of Uttar Pradesh. The complaints alleged that buses were unavailable, seats were difficult to find and some buses were allegedly not stopping at designated points, purportedly to avoid carrying women passengers free of charge.

The allegations come ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, due next year, making public transport and welfare promises a potential flashpoint between the ruling BJP and the Opposition SP.

The BJP or the state government’s response to Yadav’s allegations was not included in the material available for this report.

With PTI inputs