Lucknow: BJP on Monday stepped up its attack on Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav over alleged dynastic politics, accusing him of restricting political opportunities within the party to members of his family while sidelining grassroots workers.Addressing a news conference at BJP state headquarters, party OBC Morcha national president and Rajya Sabha MP Amar Pal Maurya said SP claimed to champion social justice and political representation but repeatedly favoured members of the Yadav family when it came to distributing positions of power.Maurya read out an open letter addressed to Akhilesh, questioning the SP chief’s alleged preference for relatives over party workers and other leaders from the Yadav community. He said he would send the letter to Akhilesh by email and share it on social media, demanding a public response to the questions raised in it.Listing members of the SP chief’s extended family who have held political and organisational positions, Maurya referred to Akhilesh’s father and former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, who served as chief minister, and Akhilesh himself, who became an MP before taking over as chief minister.He also cited the example of Akhilesh’s wife Dimple Yadav, who is a Lok Sabha MP, his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav, cousin Ram Gopal Yadav, nephew Dharmendra Yadav and other relatives who have held positions as MPs, MLAs, district panchayat chairpersons, block pramukhs and office-bearers in cooperative institutions.Questioning SP’s approach to political representation, Maurya asked why opportunities within the party appeared to be concentrated among members of one family instead of being distributed among grassroots leaders and workers.“Akhilesh ji, how long will this arrangement continue, in which power goes to your family while party workers are left to struggle? Family rule cannot continue in the name of social justice,” Maurya said.Maurya said political empowerment should be based on wider social representation rather than inheritance, urging Akhilesh to examine his party’s record and address the questions raised in the letter.Maurya said BJP OBC Morcha had discussed its organisational role and strategy for the 2027 assembly elections at a meeting, including ways to strengthen the party at the grassroots and take the benefits of central and state govt welfare schemes to the last person.Claiming that BJP stood for ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’, Maurya said the party’s objective was to bring all sections of society into the mainstream of development and ensure that eligible beneficiaries received the benefits of welfare schemes.Responding to a question on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Maurya dismissed the opposition’s objections, saying the issue was not new. He questioned Congress’s political record on electoral processes and alleged that the party had its own history of controversies over votes.
