With Milkipur assembly bypolls around the corner, the Samajwadi Party has again raked up the issue of alleged grabbing of poor’s land in Ayodhya by BJP leaders.

SP President Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday hit out at the BJP government and alleged that in Ayodhya, the land of poor and farmers was taken at cheap prices and sold at expensive prices.

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” Lord Shri Ram will not spare those who took the land of the poor and farmers,” he told reporters here, adding that instead, the land of the poor should have been taken at market rates. But there was uneven distribution of land, he said.

He alleged that ”everything is being taken away from the farmers of Ayodhya and the government is deliberately snatching away the land.”

“Farmers are not against development because they also want to be partners in development. Farmers should get compensation at market price. We are grateful to the farmers that they have come to SP even at a time when officials are trying to intimidate them. The way the government is working, people of the BJP also know that the party is not their supporter. People all over the world have faith in Ayodhya but it should not be destroyed like this. Farmers should be compensated by increasing the circle rate six times. If the BJP government does not give, then whenever the SP government is formed, compensation will be given at the market rate,” he announced.

The SP President said hotels are being built where ashrams should be built. “Five star hotels are being built there. Will there be bars? If there are no bars, will it get five star status? SP will make Ayodhya world class,” he said.

Referring to Lok Bhavan, he said that the office where the CM sits is also the gift of the SP government.

Talking about the Milkipur by-election, Akhilesh Yadav said it will be the most important election in the country.

“There is a demand from the government to set an example of transparent functioning in this election. The truth is that even in Milkipur, people are being uprooted. You(media) should not promote us too much otherwise the government will deploy even those in khaki uniform. Every section is with us,” he said.

Akhilesh Yadav termed the Yogi government’s claim of nine crore people taking a dip in the Maha Kumbh as fake. He said that the government figures are fake.

On the support of Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi Assembly elections, he said ,”We are not against Congress. This is part of our strategy. AAP is giving competition to the BJP in Delhi, hence we are supporting AAP”.

Before this, the farmers who came from Ayodhya said that the authority there was taking land from the farmers but not giving adequate compensation.

Former SP MLA Pawan Pandey said that ”it is being said that the farmer’s land will be taken without compensation. Farmers are worried. Government land is being taken and given to capitalists. Earlier too, land was taken from poor farmers at a cheap rate and is being given at an expensive price for the hotel. Farmers are not against development in Ayodhya but are against taking away land at throwaway prices. Thousands of bighas of land already taken is vacant. Hundred percent of the farmers are saying in writing that they would not sell their land and will sell it to the people at the same price at which the land is being sold to the industrialists. The land of farmers who have been farming for 100 to 200 years is being taken for free on the pretext of Nazul.”

Rajeev Tiwari of Ayodhya told that Awas Vikas acquired and sold land for residential use after they bought from them for Rs 5 lakh and sold for Rs 1.81 crore.

One Pooja Verma told that she is a native of Ayodhya and her husband died during Covid. She purchased land with the money received from insurance. ”Housing developments are acquiring land at very low prices. No one is listening to us. How will I be able to educate my children? Daughter has to get married,” she said.

Farmer Ram Yadav told that ”the government is uprooting 2,000 farmers in Maya Jamtara and land is being taken on the pretext of Nazul.”

Nazul land is government-owned land that is used for public purposes.

Ayodhya’s business leader Ratan Jaiswal alleged that his land is also being forcibly taken by housing development. They are buying it at the price of Rs 5 lakh and selling it for crores, he claimed.

The BJP on Tuesday nominated Chandrabhan Paswan as its candidate for the Milkipur bypoll, while the Samajwadi Party has fielded Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad’s son Ajit Prasad. Awadhesh Prasad was the MLA of Milkipur before he got elected to the Lok Sabha necessitating the bypoll.

The Congress has decided not to field its candidate and instead support the nominee of the SP, a constituent of the INDIA bloc. The bypoll is scheduled for February 5 and votes will be counted on February 8.