Raid on Jains shows BJP's anti-minority mindset: Akhilesh Yadav

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Sunday that the BJP's raids on both Peeyush Jain and Pushpraj Jain were a reflection of its "anti-minority" stance as it did not want the Jains to "flourish".

Yadav was addressing a public assembly in Lucknow. He then led a roadshow to a temple of Lord Parshuram built by the SP in Lucknow, in a bid to woo Brahmin voters.

Yadav accused the BJP of being "anti-minorities", saying after the party came to power, reservation of seats for Anglo-Indians in both the Lok Sabha as well as state assemblies was discontinued. He then referred to the treatment of Sikh farmers by the government during the farmer agitation, saying they were "cruelly treated", with "nails fixed into the ground" around their protest site, "boulders being placed" and "trenches being dug" around them. Around 700 farmers lost their lives, he said.


"And to blow their trumpet now, they are conducting raids. First, they went to the wrong Jain and then to save themselves from embarrassment, they conducted the raids again. And the raids are being conducted because Jains belong to minorities. There are around 50 lakh Jains at best in the entire population, but the BJP does not want this 50 lakh population to prosper," he said.