“Thanks to the blessings we have received from the people of Nagina, we will contest the by-elections in all 10 seats,” Chandrashekhar said at a rally at Sarai Nayat in Prayagraj’s Phulpur constituency.
“Hooliganism is rampant in the state. In some places, they are forcing people to write their names on carts and beating them with clubs for asserting their rights,” he said.
The Supreme Court of India has issued an interim stay on an order by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand requiring restaurants along the Kanwal Yatra route to display the names of their owners and employees, a move that opposition parties say is intended to promote religious discrimination.
“Young people are desperate for jobs but no one is listening to them,” Chandrashekhar, the Lok Sabha MP from Nagina in Uttar Pradesh, said at the rally.
“After the question paper of the Uttar Pradesh police recruitment exam was leaked, the exam was cancelled. No one has demanded that the exam be held again. I have been repeatedly asserting this demand and now it seems the state government has woken up,” he said.
The exam for recruiting constables in the Uttar Pradesh police force was cancelled in February following allegations of document leaks, but the state government has announced that it will be held in August.
Asserting that it was only thanks to the Constitution that the underprivileged sections were able to lead a dignified life, Chandrashekhar said, “If you do not take part in politics, if there is no one to represent you in Parliament, your voice will not be heard.”
In an apparent reference to Mayawati-led BSP, he said Uttar Pradesh has many political parties with members in the Legislative Assembly but not a single one with a member in the Lok Sabha.
“At the same time, activists of the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) reached the Indian Lok Sabha,” the Nagina-based MP said.
(You can now subscribe to the Economic Times WhatsApp channel)