BJP govt has shut down around 70K schools, destroyed primary edu: Akhilesh

Lucknow: Claiming that the BJP govt in Uttar Pradesh has shut down around 70,000 educational institutions, Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said that there are thousands more where zero admissions have taken place this year.Akhilesh accused the govt of systematically destroying the primary education set-up in the state. “The BJP govt’s second tenure is heading to an end with zero achievements, except for the fact that they have set up new records in corruption. Another noticeable part is the manner in which the primary education system has been systematically destroyed by the govt. Around 70,000 schools have been shut and there are thousands more where no admissions have taken place,” Akhilesh said, addressing partymen at SP headquarters.The SP chief asked the party carders to highlight the poor state of the education sector before the people when they reach out to the masses while campaigning for the upcoming assembly elections. “People are unhappy over the shutdown of schools in their villages, forcing their kids to walk to faraway places. We have to assure these locals that the SP govt will open them once voted to power,” the former UP CM said, preparing cadres for the party campaign for the 2027 assembly polls.Akhilesh said there was hardly any time left to hit the ground running with active election campaigning and called upon the youth to roll up their sleeves.He said the BJP has nothing to showcase as an achievement, and all SP cadres had to do was explain to people how the failed government has made the common man’s life difficult. “In the absence of any achievement, the BJP will hatch conspiracies to divert people’s attention. We have to be cautious about it,” Akhilesh said.‘BJP govt has destroyed power sector in UP’Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said the BJP govt has failed to set up any new power plant in the state during its two terms spanning over nine years.He added that while power demand and tariffs have risen sharply in these nine years, production has not increased. As a result, people across the state are facing prolonged power cuts, he said.“Undeclared power cuts have left the people desperate. The children are having a difficult time staying indoors without power. The irony is that they did not set up a single new power-producing unit. The govt was quick to overlook all norms and forcibly install smart meters,” Akhilesh said.He said during the SP govt, supercritical thermal power plants were set up in Kanpur, Ghatampur, Etah, Lalitpur, Sonbhadra and Prayagraj, and milestones were achieved in the transmission and distribution sectors as well. “The infrastructure in place today was set up during the SP govt. The BJP has only exploited it,” he said.