Akhilesh Yadav releases 'Samajwadi audit' claiming 151 Ambedkar statues vandalised in U.P.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday alleged that more than 151 statues of B.R. Ambedkar were damaged or vandalised across 72 districts of Uttar Pradesh during the Bharatiya Janata Party's nine-and-a-half years in power in the State.

Releasing a document he called the 'Samajwadi audit report' in Lucknow, Mr. Yadav said the incidents formed part of a broader pattern of humiliating marginalised communities and followers of Ambedkar. He claimed the vandalism was a deliberate act, and argued that the BJP was resorting to such acts out of frustration after failing to change the Constitution. On average, he said, more than 15 statues had been vandalised each year, adding that many more incidents were likely to have gone unrecorded.

Citing the report, Mr. Yadav said arrests had been made in only 14 instances. Cases had been registered against 45 unidentified persons, while 18 people were named as accused across the incidents. In 84 cases, he said, there were no details of any action taken. Describing an attack on Ambedkar as an attack on the soul of India and a blow to democratic values, he said it showed that the BJP government and its "feudal followers" had no respect for Ambedkar or the idea of equality.

According to the audit, Ballia recorded nine such incidents, Azamgarh six, and Mathura, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur five each. The document opens with an incident reported on March 24, 2017, in Gautam Buddha Nagar and closes with one reported on September 19, 2026, in Unnao.

The party said the exercise was part of a wider demand for social justice and would eventually lead to the BJP's removal from power. A party spokesperson said the SP would take the issue to villages and blocks across the State, informing people about what it described as the humiliation of a symbol of social justice, and predicted that the BJP would lose power in 2027.

Mr. Yadav also said the party had resolved to expand its support at the booth level, aiming to add 27,000 votes to the SP's tally in every Assembly constituency while cutting a similar number from the BJP's. He said the effort would combine the use of technology in elections, sustained contact with voters and work towards securing justice.