UP: Akhilesh Yadav slams BJP over Abbas Ansari’s disqualification

Lucknow: In a strongly worded attack on the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government, Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday alleged that the disqualification of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) MLA Abbas Ansari was a deliberate and politically motivated act.

Speaking to the media at the Samajwadi Party headquarters in Lucknow, Akhilesh accused the ruling party of using legal and constitutional institutions to selectively target Opposition leaders, particularly those aligned with socialist ideology.

“Abbas Ansari’s membership was cancelled in a planned and hurried manner,” Akhilesh said. “What is shocking is that the Secretariat was opened on a Sunday just to facilitate the notification of disqualification. Have you ever seen such urgency when it comes to BJP leaders? Many of them speak far worse things in public, yet no action is taken against them.”

Abbas Ansari, who represented the Mau constituency, was disqualified from the Legislative Assembly following his conviction in a hate speech case. Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana declared the seat vacant shortly after the court verdict, and the Election Commission was notified immediately. The seat is now set to witness a by-election, drawing political attention from across the state.

Akhilesh did not stop at accusing the government of political vendetta but went further to allege caste-based bias in the functioning of the state machinery. “It increasingly appears that decisions are being made not on the basis of law or justice but caste,” he said.