Bhubaneswar: The Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday arrived in Bhubaneswar on a two-day visit and met senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Srikant Jena, discussed a range of issues including social justice, caste census and safeguarding the constitution and democracy.
Speaking to the media, Akhilesh said that the Samajwadi Party had long fought over the issue of caste census. The Congress party initially didn’t show any support for this demand, But Now the party has acknowledged it.
“Now, even the Congress party has accepted the demand for caste-based enumeration. We are committed to protecting the Constitution by standing with the oppressed and marginalised,” he asserted.
“The time has arrived to say that to establish ‘the rule of law’, we today require the ‘Rule of social justice’. The real meaning of the establishment of the ‘rule of social justice’ is the true establishment of the spirit of equality as per the Constitution,” said Akhilesh Yadav.
Akhilesh said that when the Constitution is weakened, democracy weakens with it.
In a veiled attack on the ruling BJP over the celebrations of B.R. Ambedkar’s birth anniversary on April 14, he said, “We see the people who damaged the Constitution most, participate in the Ambedkar Jayanti more.”
The Samajwadi President also claimed that the injustice done to the backward communities in education and employment in Odisha is beyond imagination.
“The people from the backward communities are deprived of their genuine rights in the education and employment sectors in Odisha as well. We will reach out to them, make them aware and bring them along,” said Akhilesh.
The former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh also engaged in talks with leaders of several like-minded parties- CPI, CPM, NCP, and RJD- to further strengthen the INDIA alliance in Odisha.
The former UP chief Minister is scheduled to visit Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri tomorrow.
