Tag: Azad Samaj Party

  • Azad Samaj Party workers demand accused behind Dalit man’s murder be arrested

    By PTI

    MUZAFFARNAGAR: Azad Samaj Party members protested outside Purkazi police station here demanding the arrest of those accused of killing a Dalit person in the town earlier this month.

    Led by the party’s district president Jagdish Pal, they shouted slogans outside the police station on Saturday evening calling for the accused to be immediately arrested in the case.

    Dhir Singh (55), a Dalit, had gone to his agricultural field and was later found dead in a pond at Mandla village under Purkazi police station area on October 1.

    Police had registered a case but no arrests have been made in this connection till now.

  • Chandrashekhar Azad calls for gheraoing PM’s residence if Lakhimpur culprits not arrested in seven days

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Azad Samaj Party chief and Dalit leader Chandrashekhar Azad on Friday said he and his supporters will gherao the residence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi here if the culprits of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident are not arrested within seven days.

    The prime minister should talk to farmers, go to Lakhimpur Kheri and meet family members of slain farmers, he demanded.

    “The prime minister tweets on every issue but he is yet to react on the killing of the farmers. The culprits are roaming free. We will gherao the PM’s residence if the culprits are not arrested within seven days,” Azad said at a press conference here.

    ALSO READ | SC criticizes Yogi govt’s probe in Lakhimpur violence case, asks why accused not arrested yet

    The Dalit leader compared the Lakhimpur Kheri incident to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, and asserted it will have huge repercussions in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections next year.

    Azad alleged there is no law and order in Uttar Pradesh and demanded that the CM tender his resignation.

    He also supported the demand for a caste census, saying it will help ascertain the percentage of neglected sections of society.

    ​VIEW GALLERY | ‘Fascism’, ‘Jallianwala Bagh’, ‘Hitler’: Lakhimpur Kheri farmers’ killing leads to strong reactions by Opposition leaders

    Eight people were killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence on Sunday.

    Of the eight, four were farmers, who were allegedly knocked down by vehicles driven by BJP workers travelling to welcome Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to an event in the area.

    The other four were two BJP workers, a driver of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra and Raman Kashyap, a journalist working for a private television channel.

    An FIR under section 302 of IPC (murder) has been registered against the Union minister’s son, Ashish Mishra, and others in connection with the incident at the Tikonia police station but no arrest has been made so far.

  • Fulfill promises made to Hathras rape victim’s family or will go on dharna: Chandrashekhar Azad to UP govt

    By PTI

    ALIGARH: Azad Samaj Party national president Chandrashekhar Azad has threatened to begin an indefinite protest if the Uttar Pradesh government fails to fulfil its promises to the family of a 19-year-old woman from Hathras who was gang-raped and assaulted last year leading to her death.

    Azad, who had visited the family of the woman in Hathras earlier this week, said, “Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s promises made a year back of providing financial support to the family, including job and housing, have become a cruel joke for the family.”

    Azad met Aligarh Divisional Commissioner Gaurav Dayal who, he said, “assured that the promised assistance to the family would be given within one week.”

    ​ALSO READ | Hathras gang rape case: Allahabad HC refuses to stay trial in special court

    “We will begin an indefinite dharna at the Aligarh divisional commissioner’s office after 10 days if these assurances are not fulfilled and justice is not given to the family,” he told reporters here on Friday.

    The woman died at a hospital in Delhi in September last year, days after being assaulted and raped by four men.

    Azad claimed that Aligarh “has become such a difficult place for Dalits that they would be forced to migrate from here.”

    Asked whether his party will form any alliance for the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, he said, “So far no decision has been taken, but we will not spare any effort to ensure the defeat of the BJP.”

  • Bhim Army chief urges PM to ensure quota for OBCs in state medical colleges under NEET

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure reservation for OBCs in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) at the state level.

    NEET is conducted for admission to undergraduate medical courses.

    In a letter to the prime minister, Aazad, who is also the president of the Azad Samaj Party, said the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) are not being given reservation at the state level in NEET by the government.

    The government has made it clear through its notification on NEET that reservation for OBCs under the all-India quota will not be implemented in state medical colleges this year, he claimed.

    “I request that the reservation of OBC in NEET be implemented at the state level. Otherwise, we will take this issue before the people,” Azad said in the letter.

    He also demanded that the reservation in NEET be increased for OBCs in proportion to their population.

  • BSP has lost its identity, Azad Samaj Party alternative in UP: Chandra Shekhar Aazad

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Accusing the Bahujan Samaj Party of going soft on the Centre for the fear of central probe agencies, Azad Samaj Party chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad on Sunday pitched his new political outfit as an alternative to the Mayawati-led party which he said was losing its identity by working against the principles of its founder Kanshi Ram.

    The Bhim Army chief, whose political outfit Azad Samaj Party launched last year is seeking to establish itself as a defender of the rights of Dalits, other backward classes and minorities, said a “grand alliance” is the need of the hour for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls next year and all those who are serious about stopping the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from coming back to power must join hands.

    In an interview with PTI, Aazad said he has no qualms in aligning with anybody, including the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), provided the objective is to forge a strong alliance to defeat the Yogi Adityanath government which he alleged was running a “dictatorial” administration.

    “We are in talks with all (opposition) parties. When any problem confronts the state and the country all parties discuss matters. In our party, the core committee is the supreme body and it will take a call on alliances,” the Azad Samaj Party chief said, adding that his party has not formalised any tie-ups as of now for the assembly polls.

    “Our efforts are directed at forging a grand alliance to take on the BJP for the sake of the people. This misrule must come to an end. So a grand alliance should be formed to stop the BJP,” the 34-year-old leader stressed.

    Calling for a common minimum programme, he batted for having a coalition government in UP, saying when parties get a hold over power alone then dictatorial situations arise “as it is happening now”.

    Asked about the barbs directed at him by BSP chief Mayawati, he said if someone criticises him, he is not perturbed by it.

    “I am not scared of criticism and allegations,” Aazad said.

    To a pointed query on whether he was open to an alliance with the BSP for the assembly polls, he said he was open to an alliance with all “anti-BJP” parties.

    However, Aazad was also scathing in his criticism of the Mayawati-led party, while adding that his differences with it were ideological and not personal.

    “The BSP has lost its identity and it is because of its own actions, not due to anyone else.

    Look at 2012 (UP assembly polls), 2014 (Lok Sabha polls), 2017 (assembly polls) and 2019 (LS polls), they are in decline,” Aazad, also known as ‘Raavan’, said.

    “Look at other states, now they (BSP) are getting less than 1 per cent votes, be it in Kerala, Assam, West Bengal.

    The BSP is in decline because its leaders don’t want to work on the ground level and only go to the people during elections and the people are understanding this,” he claimed.

    Alleging that the BSP was ignoring its founder the late Kanshi Ram’s ideals, Aazad alleged that the Mayawati-led party was working against those principles.

    The BSP became a national party in 12 years on the basis of those principles but its national party status is also in danger now, he said.

    Pointing to the BSP’s “decline”, he said the Azad Samaj Party was not there in 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2019 polls, and the BSP was itself to blame for it.

    “We have given an alternative to the people and showed our mettle with our work on the ground.

    We pledge to be with people before and after elections,” the Azad Samaj Party chief said.

    He also accused the BSP of going soft on the Centre on various issues for the fear of central probe agencies.

    “When you have cases of CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), ED (Enforcement Directorate), you are caught in the stranglehold of the Centre and you cannot put forward your views strongly,” Aazad said.

    “There are several such cases (on Mayawati) and also her brother,” he alleged, while asserting that his party was playing the role of a responsible opposition despite being just over a year old.

    Asked about the Congress as a potential ally in UP, Aazad said there was no rift with the party but his outfit was raising its voice wherever deprived were wronged and did so recently in Congress-ruled Rajasthan.

    “I don’t have a personal problem (with the Congress). All those who believe that the BJP must be stopped and that it has harmed the state, they must come together,” he asserted.

    In the run up to the UP assembly polls next year, Aazad is leading a ‘Bahujan Cycle Yatra’ with the slogan ‘Jaati Chorho Samaj Jodo’ from July 1-21, seeking to “counter the communal atmosphere in the country and for uniting people”.

    “The BJP works on the policy of divide and rule. We work on the politics of brotherhood and equality. Caste divisions create animosity between the people and because of this the country has lagged behind in development,” he said.

    The message of this rally is to break caste barriers and establish brotherhood, Aazad said.

    He accused the UP government of undermining reservation in appointments and carrying out “recruitment scams”.

    He also alleged that there was a major issue of inflation and the declining law and order situation in the state, with kidnappings of traders becoming a norm and women and sisters not safe.

    Aazad also hit out at the Yogi government over the violence during the filing of nominations in block pramukh polls, alleging that democracy was being “abducted” in the state.

    Aazad launched his political outfit the Azad Samaj Party last year on March 15 — the birth anniversary of Kanshi Ram.