'Vote to save democracy': Akhilesh Yadav at INDIA bloc rally

New Delhi: Accusing the ruling BJP of using central agencies to attack opposition leaders, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday urged people to vote against the party in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls if they wanted to save democracy in the country.

Addressing the INDIA bloc's 'Save Democracy' rally at the Ramlila Maidan here, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister questioned why the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is using agencies against the opposition if it is confident of crossing the 400-seat mark in the upcoming polls.

"If you are so confident of crossing 400 (Lok Sabha seats in polls), why are you scared of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders? You sent Arvind Kejriwal to jail... Hemant Soren was sent to jail..." Yadav said.

"The nation knows they have used ED, CBI to extort donations. To suppress this, false cases are being imposed on opposition leaders," he said.

"Defeat them, send them back. The country will be saved only by your vote. Your vote will save democracy, your vote will save the Constitution, it will save reservation, it will enable work that needs to be done to save the PDA (‘pichde’, Dalit, ‘alpsankhyak’ or backward classes, Dalits, minorities)," he said.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren, who took the post after Hemant Soren's resignation ahead of his arrest, said BJP's autocracy and its ideology will not be allowed to flourish.

He said Hemant Soren was arrested even as there was no evidence against him. "He worked for the Dalits, Adivasis, and backward classes. That made the BJP restless," the Jharkhand CM said.

He said the joint opposition rally will send out the message that they are together. "We are one... we will not allow the ideology and autocracy of BJP to flourish in this country," he said.

"We are together to save democracy," he added.

Opposition INDIA bloc on Sunday held a 'Save Democracy' rally at the Ramlila Maidan here, in a show of strength and Opposition unity just before Lok Sabha polls.