Daijiworld Media Network - Etwah

Etawah, Apr 12: Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday inaugurated a statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in Etawah’s Mahewa block, calling the Indian Constitution a protective shield for the poor and accusing the BJP of attempting to dilute its values.

Joined by party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav, Akhilesh hailed Ambedkar’s legacy, urging SP workers to uphold his vision of equality and social justice. “The Constitution Baba Saheb gave us is the soul of our democracy. It protects the marginalised and gives every citizen a sense of dignity,” he said.

He also reaffirmed SP’s ideological commitment to Ambedkar, socialist thinker Ram Manohar Lohia, and Netaji Mulayam Singh Yadav. Notably, the Ambedkar statue stands beside that of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which Yadav described as a symbol of democratic unity. “Even BJP leaders should learn from this inclusiveness,” he added.

Taking aim at the BJP's upcoming Dalit outreach campaign, Akhilesh alleged that the ruling party was reacting to the SP’s growing PDA (Pichhde, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) coalition. “They’re afraid of our support base and are now scrambling to save face with symbolic gestures,” he said. “After ignoring injustice for years, they now want to pretend to care.”

Yadav also accused the BJP of copying SP initiatives. “They plan their events after ours. I just hope someday they’ll apologise for their past actions,” he concluded.