BJP will lose 2.5 lakh votes in every UP seat over constable exam cancellation: Akhilesh

Lucknow, Feb 24 (PTI) Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said the cancellation of recently held police constable recruitment examination in Uttar Pradesh would be “shocking news” for the BJP as the state's youth affected by it will now “remove” the party from power.

Addressing the media at SP headquarters in Lucknow, the former chief minister said, "The cancellation of exam may be breaking news but it is shocking news for BJP as it has lost over 2.5 lakh votes in every constituency of UP." The UP government on Saturday cancelled the constable recruitment examination following allegations of question paper leak and ordered a re-test within six months.

Explaining his claim, Yadav said, "If 60 lakh candidates had applied for the police recruitment exam, and if we count their parents the number (of people affected by the decision) goes to 1.8 crore. This means that in each of the 80 (Lok Sabha) constituencies of UP around 2.5 lakh people are going to vote against the BJP." "BJP must understand that it has lost 2.5 lakh votes in each constituency and youngsters who were waiting for police recruitment for years will now remove BJP from the state," Yadav said.

More than 48 lakh candidates appeared in the examination conducted on February 17 and 18 across the state. The state government also announced a probe into the paper leak allegations by a Special Task Force (STF).

Yadav also mentioned the suicide of Brijesh Pal, a 28-year-old man in Kannauj district who allegedly burnt all his educational certificates and hanged himself in his house in the Bhoodpurwa area in Kannauj on Friday.

Yadav said, "The grief increases when we hear about the death of Brijesh Pal who commits suicide after burning all his degrees. Think about the kind of government this is which cannot provide jobs." The government should provide financial assistance of Rs 1 cr to the family members of the deceased, he added. PTI