10 lakh jobs & 300 units free electricity: Samajwadi Party’s tall promises a poll stunt?

New Delhi: With Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections round the corner, political parties have begun rolling out the red carpet for electorates.
Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) has made promise of providing 10 lakh jobs to youth and 300 units of free electricity across the state, if voted to power. Posters with this message were hanged outside party offices in Lucknow.

“Once elected to power, Samajwadi Party in its first cabinet meeting will provide 10 lakh jobs to youth and 300 units of free electricity across Uttar Pradesh,” the posters read in Hindi.

Lucknow: Posters of Samajwadi Party claiming to provide 10 lakh jobs to youth and 300 units of free electricity across UP have been put up outside their party office.

Visuals from yesterday. pic.twitter.com/XtfA9sOazS

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 11, 2021

Samajwadi Party’s tall promises ahead of Assembly polls are seen as election stunt and gimmick as political observers are questioning the rationale behind such poll promises by a party which ruled the state for 5 long years. None of such scheme was announced during Akhilesh tenure but when the state is gearing up for hustings, it is trying to ape the AAP’s freebie politics.

Speculations are also doing rounds of possible tie-up between SP & AAP. SP chief and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav had already announced that party will form an alliance with small political parties for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

When asked about the possibility of joining hands with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Akhilesh Yadav did not give any direct answer and said that the effort of SP will be to take more and more parties with it.

The assembly elections are scheduled in Uttar Pradesh in 2022. Due to this, political activities in the state have intensified. In 2017 UP assembly elections, BJP had won 325 seats, SP & allies won 54 seats, BSP won 19 seats while others won 5 seats in the 403-member assembly.