Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav visited the dargah of Sheikh Salim Chishti in Fatehpur Sikri on Saturday.
He was accompanied by his wife and MP Dimple Yadav and Bollywood star Jaya Bachchan. All three offered a chadar (shawl) and flowers at the dargah.
On this occasion, Akhilesh Yadav said, “I am happy to have got the opportunity to come here. I wish that the spirit of Indianness, composite culture, and mutual affection continue to flourish from this place. This is a historical place where everyone has lived together. It reflects the identity of our India, where people of different castes and religions live together.”
Regarding the issue of the Electoral Roll Revision (ERR), Akhilesh Yadav said, “While we are discussing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the focus should be on ensuring that more and more people get the right to vote and that their names are not removed from the voter list. They (BJP) want to cut votes under the pretext of SIR. The institution created by the Constitution is more concerned about removing votes than registering them. We remember Baba Saheb Dr. Ambedkar because due to his Constitution, we are getting our rights and respect. The Constitution is a book of destiny for the PDA (Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak — Backward Classes, Dalits, and Minorities). What would we have faced had this book of destiny not been with us? Many times, dominant people insult the PDA. They even threw a shoe in the court. This book of destiny allows us to move forward together; it is this that gives us reservation. Suppose there is no Constitution, then there will be no reservation. If the Constitution is weak, then democracy will also be weak. Those who are autocratic want to run things according to their own will, not according to the Constitution.”
On the IndiGo flight fiasco, Akhilesh Yadav said, “When you empower industrialists, they don’t even listen to the government. The government should be powerful, not the industrialists.”