Akhilesh Yadav’s big mistake is to make bulldozer an issue again, Yogi may have to pay heavily in UP by-elections

Bulldozer action has been stopped, but the debate has intensified. The Supreme Court has definitely stopped the action, but why should the debate stop? That too when by-elections are going to be held on 10 assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh.

The bulldozer has been promoted as a symbol of strict administration by the BJP double engine government in UP – and from time to time there is an attempt to show a similar picture in other BJP ruled states as well.

Once again, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav are at loggerheads over the issue of bulldozers. Both the leaders were seen in a similar aggressive manner against each other even before the 2022 UP assembly elections.

This debate has started after an order of the Supreme Court on bulldozers. The Supreme Court had made very strict comments on the bulldozer action taken at many places across the country. The bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Vishwanath said, how can someone’s house be demolished just because he is an accused in a case?

Bulldozer not only became an issue in the UP assembly elections, but during the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted political opponents a lot. Prime Minister Modi had said in an election rally, if SP and Congress come to power, then we will send Ramlala back to the tent… and will get the Ram temple bulldozed.

The bulldozer had absolutely no effect on the Lok Sabha elections, but its effect was clearly visible in the assembly elections held two years before that – and that is why it seems that the by-elections to be held in UP will also not be spared from the impact of the bulldozer discussion.

Akhilesh Yadav made it an issue just like that

During the UP assembly elections, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was called ‘Bulldozer Baba’, and to a large extent Akhilesh Yadav seems to be responsible for this. If he had not given it importance before the elections, the matter would not have escalated so much that it became an election issue.

After the Supreme Court’s order on bulldozer action, Yogi Adityanath was waiting for the opportunity, as soon as Akhilesh Yadav’s reaction came, the debate started. Akhilesh Yadav was not going to leave it, he started again like before.

In 2021, Akhilesh Yadav had said, on Yogiji’s orders, the police run bulldozers on people’s houses… If our government comes, we will also get it done.

And once again Akhilesh Yadav has said in the same tone, if Samajwadi Party forms the government in 2027, the bulldozer will head towards Gorakhpur. When the media questioned Akhilesh Yadav on this statement, he said – what did he say wrong?

The next question of the media was, is there anything illegal in Gorakhpur? So Akhilesh Yadav avoided the question by taking the matter to the court.

Advising UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Akhilesh Yadav has said on social media, if you and your bulldozer are so successful, then form a separate party and contest the elections with the bulldozer as election symbol… your illusion and pride will be shattered.

In his post, without naming anyone, Akhilesh Yadav said on Yogi Adityanath’s conflict with the BJP leadership, anyway, the situation you are in… in that, even though you are in the BJP, you are next to nothing… you will have to form a separate party… if not today, then tomorrow.

In a conversation with the media, Akhilesh Yadav was explaining, ‘Bulldozer does not have a brain… it has a steering, with which it runs… who knows when will the people of Uttar Pradesh change someone’s steering… or who knows when will the people of Delhi change someone’s steering.’

Of course, Akhilesh Yadav is full of confidence after the best performance of Samajwadi Party in the Lok Sabha elections, but there is no guarantee that the same strategy will work in the by-elections as well. And anyway, to overcome the accusation of BJP’s defeat, Yogi Adityanath has already geared up for the by-elections.

Yogi Adityanath has started capitalizing on the opportunity

The question is who will benefit and who will be harmed by the debate on bulldozers?

Is it possible that Akhilesh Yadav has started to feel that just as the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya did not have any effect on the Lok Sabha elections, the bulldozer issue has also expired. It is natural for Akhilesh Yadav to feel this way after the Ayodhya victory, but Akhilesh Yadav must also be watching to what extent Yogi Adityanath is working hard to ensure BJP’s victory from Milkipur to Karhal after Ayodhya.

Yogi Adityanath’s reaction to Akhilesh Yadav’s statement has also come, and his style is the same as before. He said, not every person’s hands can fit on a bulldozer… it requires both heart and mind.

Targeting Akhilesh Yadav in the same tone as BJP’s old weapon ‘Mullah Mulayam’, Yogi Adityanath has said, only the one who has the capability and determination of a bulldozer can operate it… Those who bow down to the rioters will be defeated in front of the bulldozer.

First of all, there should have been silence after the Supreme Court’s ban on bulldozers, but this debate has become even more intense – bulldozer action and debate on bulldozers are completely different things, but at the root of both is the same thing. Politics. Rather, electoral politics.