Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday accused the BJP of using caste to drive a wedge between people and painting a rosy picture of the country while countless go hungry.

Akhilesh Yadav made the remarks while addressing the public at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Park in Gomti Nagar on the 57th death anniversary of the eponymous socialist thinker.

"BJP's policies are destructive. They want to overturn everything ensured in the Constitution. These are the people who do politics of hate. They discriminate. These are the people who want to do politics by making religions and castes fight," Yadav said.

Yadav said Lohia opposed discrimination at every level and claimed that it is the ideology of socialism championed by him that can eradicate poverty.

"Inflation and poverty will be eradicated only by Dr Ram Manohar Lohia's price fixation policy. Lohia ji had shown the path of prosperity in the society through Sapt Kranti," he said.

Tributes were paid to Dr Ram Manohar Lohia at Samajwadi Party offices across districts of Uttar Pradesh and other states.

"The fall of a country's currency is a symbol of the fall of the economy. No matter how thick the veneer of false data is, the truth has been revealed to the world," the former UP chief minister said.

"When the government is saying that there is a five trillion dollar economy, if our economy is moving forward, then where do we stand on the 'Hunger Index'. At 105th place," he added.

Yadav also claimed the number of train accidents were rising under the current Union government helmed by the BJP, despite claims made of improvements in the railways.

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