Lucknow, April 7 Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav stated on Tuesday that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would win the upcoming elections, despite what he alleged were attempts by the BJP to manipulate the process.
He also questioned the basis of the proposed women's reservation exercise in Parliament during an interaction with reporters here.
Responding to reports of the alleged deletion of voters' names in West Bengal, Yadav said Banerjee would emerge victorious, and the people of Bengal would support her.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister alleged that even if the BJP resorts to "dishonesty and conspiracy", the electorate in the state would defeat it.
He also linked the issue to broader concerns of governance, alleging that inflation and unemployment were rising and would worsen after elections.
Yadav claimed that fuel prices and cooking gas costs remained uncertain and burdensome for the public, while farmers continued to face distress.
On the proposed women's reservation, Yadav questioned the reliance on 2011 census data for determining quotas.
"Women's reservation is being given on the basis of numbers. You want to give one-third, which is a numerical proportion. But which population figures are you using, those of 2011?" he said.
He argued that the demographic situation had changed significantly since then and said the reservation should reflect current population realities.
"The population has increased since 2011. The ground reality today is different, so reservations should be based on the present population," he said, questioning the urgency behind implementing the measure without updated census figures.
Yadav further alleged that basing reservations on outdated data could allow authorities to pre-determine which constituencies would be reserved, and asked why the government was not waiting for the next census before implementing the policy.
He further targeted the Election Commission, claiming it was failing in its duty to ensure voter inclusion.
"It is the Election Commission's job to add voters, but this is the first time it appears to be focused on deleting them," he said.
