Uttar Pradesh Social Welfare Minister Ramapati Shastri accused Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav of being anti-Dalit and alleged that all the decisions of the previous SP government bore testimony to this fact.
In a statement issued in Lucknow on Saturday, Shastri said that no matter how many statements Akhilesh made in favour of Dalits due to political compulsions, the fact remained that during SP regime, he worked against the interests of Dalits, which the deprived section would never forget and would give a befitting reply in the elections.
He further said that during his tenure as chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav had renamed all those districts which were named after Dalit icons by former chief minister Mayawati.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, during her government, had created three new districts and had decided to change the names of eight districts including these. Of these, Bhimnagar, Prabuddha Nagar and Panchsheel Nagar came into existence in 2011, whose names were changed by Akhilesh Yadav to Sambhal, Shamli and Hapur respectively. Simultaneously, the names of four other districts changed by Mayawati, namely Rama Bai Nagar, Mahamaya Nagar, Kanshiram Nagar and Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Nagar were reverted to Kanpur Dehat, Hathras, Kasganj and Amethi respectively.
"Not only this, Mayawati had changed the name of King George’s Medical University in Lucknow to ‘Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University’ but Akhilesh Yadav restored the institution’s old name in the SP rule. Also, the SP government changed the name of Bhimrao Ambedkar Harit Park in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow to Janeshwar Mishra Park,” pointed out the UP minister..
Ramapati Shastri said that during the reign of Akhilesh Yadav, his anti-Dalit face had been exposed.
“During his reign, mafia and goons used to exploit Dalits and when they went to the police with their complaints, neither an FIR was registered nor any action was taken. Akhilesh's pro-Dalit face is a sham and he has no right to even talk about Dalits," he asserted.
