Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav has criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for appointing Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya as the central observer for government formation in Bihar.
He said that BJP’s persistent agenda of nepotism is actually an insult to the core elements of Indian epics: family, unity, and sacrifice.
He said that the BJP trumpets organisational democracy, but the reality is that ”decisions in the party are made by a chit”. Posting on his social media account on Wednesday, Akhilesh Yadav sarcastically said, “Except for the position the BJP promised him, he is being given all other positions and responsibilities. Where decisions are made by chits. Is he going to read out the slips? The BJP sends ‘slip observers,” not democratic observers. The BJP and democracy are opposites.”
It is noteworthy that on Tuesday, the BJP appointed Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya as the central observer for the election of the leader of the legislative party in Bihar. In addition, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and former Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti have been appointed co-observers. According to the party’s National General Secretary, Arun Singh, the BJP’s Parliamentary Board made these appointments to ensure the smooth conduct of the election process.
Akhilesh Yadav has levelled serious allegations against some media groups, saying that these “danajivi media houses,” driven by political interests, are distorting the symbolic stories of our epics and hurting the religious sentiments of their followers”.
Posting on his social media account too, Akhilesh said the BJP and its supporters seek to weaken social unity by portraying the family in a negative light. He alleged that “those who are consumed by power-hunger are directly defaming the symbolic meanings of our epics by mocking the word ‘family.’ The truth is that family is the foundation of society, and it is the unity of families that strengthens society.”
He said that the BJP and its “anti-family” supporters want people to become isolated from their families so that they can control them through fear and confusion. He alleged that “these people spread the false narrative of nepotism to divert attention from real issues like hunger, unemployment, inflation, corruption, and the problems of farmers and labourers.”
Akhilesh Yadav challenged that if the BJP considers family so bad, it should remove from its organisation all leaders whose family members have ever been in politics, stop donating to those whose businesses are family-based, and even ban the use of family surnames. He asked, “Will the BJP declare that an officer’s son will not become an officer, a doctor’s son will not become a doctor, or a media owner’s son will not run a media house?”
Akhilesh Yadav’s post defended political family involvement as “sacrifice” rooted in Indian epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata, framing media and BJP criticisms of “familyism” as cultural insults aimed at weakening social unity.
Akhilesh’s post written in the wake of Lalu Prasad’s family rift in Bihar following RJD’s electoral setbacks, countered dynasty accusations by redefining them as threats to familial and societal cohesion in Indian politics.
He also attacked media houses, saying that many organisations want families to break up so that consumerism increases and companies can increase their advertising revenue. “Tell us how much of the billions of rupees earned from advertising and donations you give to your employees?”
Akhilesh appealed for respect for the deceased, saying that the sanctity of journalism is to treat those who have passed away with respect. “If you can’t respect them, then don’t insult them either.”
Finally, he said that the PDA — (pichde(backward classes), Dalits, and alpsankhyak (minorities) — will no longer tolerate disrespect and will openly advocate for the well-being of every family and for the preservation of brotherhood in society.