Lucknow, April 3 Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday alleged that the Constitution is under threat and institutions are being weakened, and said his party would raise awareness on the issue at the grassroots level.
Addressing a press conference here, Yadav said the party has decided to celebrate the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar on April 14 at the village level, where discussions will also be held on the "crisis facing the Constitution".
"This is not 'Amrit Kaal', but a period of crisis. There is a threat to the Constitution, and we will take this discussion to the villages," the former UP chief minister said.
Yadav alleged that those in power do not function according to the Constitution but instead follow "man-vidhan" (arbitrary rule). "We want democracy, we want a system that is based on the rule of law," he remarked.
"We want to strengthen democracy, but they want to impose a system that weakens it. The Constitution is our protector and our foundation, and efforts are being made to shake and weaken this foundation through institutions," he alleged.
Referring to his party's ideological roots, Yadav said the Samajwadi Party follows the Constitution given by Ambedkar, the path shown by socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia, and the legacy of "Netaji" (SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav), and aims to provide a new direction of development to society by working towards a socialist system.
He also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of functioning like "saudagar" (traders), alleging that it is focused on selling assets, profit and privatisation, which, along with corruption and profiteering, has led to rising inflation.
Yadav said despite tall claims of investment, the government has not clarified how much investment has actually come in or how many jobs have been generated. He also flagged the unemployment issue, saying educated youths are not getting jobs.
Calling for unity among PDA (Picchde, Dalit and Alpsankhyak, or Backward, Dalits, and Minorities) minorities, he said the party would work at the booth level to defeat the BJP in the 2027 state assembly elections and form the government.
He claimed that the BJP was defeated in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections due to the collective efforts of such groups and expressed confidence that similar mobilisation would help the party return to power and accelerate development in Uttar Pradesh.