Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Dimple Yadav on Wednesday said she and other young party MPs were prepared to join the Delhi CJP protest even if they had not received permission from the party leadership.
Speaking at a press conference at the SP headquarters, Dimple said the protest had sent a strong political message across the country – that the BJP could be defeated through collective action. She also described the movement as a “Sanjivani booti” (life-saving herb) for the country.
“Agar permission nahi dete to hum nahi jaante hum kya karte. Ho sakta hai hum tab hi jaate. Yuva hum sab, hum sab thaan ke baithe hue the (If we wouldn’t have got permission, we do not know what we would have done. Perhaps, we would have gone anyway. All of us young MPs were determined to go),” she said.
Dimple thanked SP president Akhilesh Yadav, who was present at the press conference, for allowing the party’s young MPs to participate in the agitation.
“When we all went there, all of us MPs felt connected because it seemed that these were our own children fighting for their rights and entitlements,” the Mainpuri MP said.
‘BJP Can Be Defeated’: Dimple’s Message From CJP Protest
Dimple said the protesters appeared to be ordinary young people who had gathered to raise their demands and were not being influenced or supported by outsiders.
“These are young people who have come here organically to put forward their point. They are not being provoked from any angle, and there is no outside support,” she said.
She also recalled the treatment of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, saying his removal from the protest while “being wrapped in a white bedsheet” had upset many people.
“We were feeling sentimental and hurt. Somewhere, we had decided that we would definitely participate in this movement,” she said.
Dimple said opposition parties were initially divided over whether to join the protest, but the SP eventually allowed its young MPs to participate.
“We want to thank our national president who permitted us,” she said.
She added that the MPs had even arrived prepared for the protest, wearing appropriate sports shoes.
Dimple also spoke about what protesters allegedly told the MPs about their treatment.
“We could feel their pain. They told us that their clothes were torn and they were given electric shocks… Somewhere, it gave us the strength to stand with them,” she said, without elaborating on the allegations.
Dimple said the protest had shown that collective action could challenge the BJP government.
“One message has gone across the country and society — that the BJP can be defeated. If we fight together, defeating the BJP is not a difficult task,” she said.
Calling the movement a “Sanjivani booti” for the country, Dimple said it demonstrated the strength of people coming together.
Akhilesh Yadav: SP Backed CJP Movement From Day One
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said the party had supported the movement from the beginning. He said the party had described the political contest as “BJP versus CJP” when the protest was attracting millions of views online.
“While the movement was going on, we were involved in it in one way or another. If you look at the political parties, the Samajwadi Party supported the movement from the very first day,” he said.
Akhilesh said several young SP MPs, including Dimple Yadav, Iqra Hasan and Priya Saroj, wanted to join the agitation.
He said the party eventually decided to fully support the protesters, who he said had faced “pain, suffering and difficulties”.
“If the party had not taken a decision at that time, perhaps we would have missed that movement,” he said.
Akhilesh added that the SP’s involvement had started earlier and that its support for the protesters was based on a decision to stand with them with “complete honesty”.