Chandrashekhar Azad’s Satta Parivartan yatra reaches Meerut

Meerut: As his Satta Parivartan Yatra reached Meerut on Friday, Azad Samaj Party (Kanshiram) national president and Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad asserted that Uttar Pradesh would witness a change in power in 2027. The yatra began on Thursday evening from Dhampur tehsil in Bijnor district.Addressing the media before the yatra began, Azad unveiled a 32-point agenda and criticised the state govt over issues including law and order, unemployment and women’s safety. Azad said the youth, despite being the state’s largest demographic group, were also the most dissatisfied. “Paper leaks are rampant, recruitment scams are common, and the youth are being failed,” he said.Referring to the case of national-level athlete Anushka Pal, whose body was recovered 44 days after she went missing in Meerut, Azad said the incident reflected the “failure of the Yogi Adityanath govt” on law and order. “If this is what happens to a national player, one can imagine the plight of an ordinary woman,” he said.On his party’s agenda, Azad said free education from Class 1-12 would be a top priority. He also advocated affordable healthcare, jobs for youth, an end to paper leaks and filling backlog vacancies.Launching an attack on chief minister Yogi Adityanath over his recent remarks regarding demands to declare the cow as ‘Rashtra Mata’, Azad said, “As an MP, Yogi Adityanath used to demand national mother status for cows in 2015. Now, after taking huge donations from beef companies, you (CM) have made India the largest beef exporter while also using cows to trigger violence in the state. If you stop doing that now, it will compromise your politics, and that is why you are not declaring it.”Azad said his party supports 50% reservation for women instead of 33%. He alleged that women had been “misled into believing” that the opposition was against the reservation, whereas the legislation had already been passed in 2023 and could be implemented by the Centre at any time.He also backed a complete ban on liquor, saying alcohol-related accidents destroy families and claim several lives. “The youth of this state will not be allowed to be ruined by alcohol,” he said. Azad reiterated his opposition to electronic voting machines and said his party would “strangle” the machines and form govt only through ballot paper elections.On the question of political alliances, Azad said, “Our alliance will be with the public — that is why we are carrying out this yatra instead of holding a big rally and walking away.”