Independence Day speech: Akhilesh Yadav takes aim at RSS, BJP over PM Modi’s praise and ‘Swadeshi’ call; says, 'Sanghi-saathi' should thank British on completing 100 years

NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday took a veiled dig at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) after Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded it in his Independence Day speech, saying the organisation should thank the British on completing 100 years, as “some organisations were made by them so that Bharat could be divided on religious lines.”

Speaking at Janeshwar Mishra Park in Lucknow after hoisting the tricolour, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also reminded BJP members that when the party was formed, its first national president declared its ideology to be “socialist and secular.”


On Modi’s Independence Day address, in which the prime minister called RSS the “world’s biggest NGO” and praised its “very proud and glorious” journey, Yadav said: “Those who are swadeshi only by speech should become swadeshi from mind as well.” He linked the comment to trade issues, including U.S. tariffs on Indian goods, a shrinking carpet trade in Bhadohi, and India’s trade deficit with China, saying, “If someone is a foreigner in mind, then how will our business increase?”

Yadav also criticised the BJP for “telling lies” on Independence Day, adding that no politics should be done on the occasion. He urged secure borders, a strong Army, and the scrapping of the Agniveer recruitment scheme, while warning that the “web of GST and fear-inducing institutions such as ED, CBI and Income Tax” was hurting trade.

Referring to the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, Yadav said that “Samajwadi people and many people in the world are against war” but that India’s defence should be robust. “We are not going to win the war by making Didi Drones,” he said, reiterating his demand to end the Agniveer system.