Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday listed the “mischiefs of the BJP” and said the people were ready for a new freedom struggle to save the country’s future.

At a news conference here on Monday, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said: “The BJP changed election results with the help of some corrupt media persons and officers (in the past) and is getting ready to do so in the recently held elections. However, the people of the country are agitated this time. They are remembering Mahatma Gandhi and prepared for a do-or-die movement. The people are ready for a new freedom struggle to save the future of the country.”

Akhilesh’s statement comes a day ahead of the counting for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The INDIA bloc, of which the SP is a part, believes that the people have voted against Narendra Modi’s BJP-led NDA government.

Before the news conference, a senior SP leader told The Telegraph: “Akhilesh in an internal meeting vaguely indicated some unpleasant situations during or after counting in case anything mischievous was done by the BJP or the administration.”

Akhilesh asked reporters: “I was in the field throughout the election. Even you were taking the pulse of the voters. Tell me is there any section of the society that voted for the BJP?”

He added: “The victory of INDIA will be the victory of the country. The people will win.”

He said the BJP was responsible for vitiating the country’s atmosphere.

“It (BJP) instigated brothers against brothers, castes against castes and faith against faith. It ditched the unemployed by conspiring to abrogate reservation in jobs and encouraged its ministers to use abusive words for the sisters and daughters of those who came forward to fight for the country. It promoted crime against women,” Akhilesh said.

“The BJP (government) committed historic corruption through electoral bonds and promoted profiteers so that it could earn through electoral bonds. The country’s economy under the BJP government collapsed while it was targeting the people through demonetisation and GST,” he added.

The SP chief said the poor became poorer and the middle class was forced to spend their savings under Modi’s rule.

“However, it (the Modi government) waived off the loans of the rich and forced the farmers to commit suicide. It levied fresh charges on bank accounts and refused to take responsibility for the protection of bank lockers. It used the name of the PM for Care Fund and refused its audit,” Akhilesh said.

“It played with the health of the people and put their lives in danger by administering a... vaccine which adversely impacted the health of the people,” he added.

Akhilesh also claimed that the BJP inducted its supporters in the judiciary through the backdoor and made some judges speak in favour of its ideology.

“The countrymen are ashamed of the talk going on across the world that India should be removed from the list of developing countries because it cheated the world by giving false data (about economic growth),” Akhilesh said without giving details.

Swatantra Dev Singh, Jal Shakti minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, said: “The people are happy under Modi because he has checked terrorism and brought prosperity. The people feel safe under the NDA rule.”