‘BJP won’t let funds reach us’: Akhilesh Yadav on why Samajwadi Party cut ties with I-PAC

THe Samajwadi company has ended its undertake with the high-profile election direction house, native american Political Action Committee (I-PAC), Party president Akhilesh Yadav has said. The Lok Sabha member cited a lack of funds ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections next year.“They were working for us for some time, but now we don’t have funds,” Yadav said at a press conference in Lucknow on Wednesday. “We didn’t cancel our contract because of election results. We don’t have funds. The BJP won’t let funds reach us,” he said.He added that the SP worked with I-PAC only briefly. “Yes, we had an association. They worked with us for a few months, but we are not able to continue because we do not have that kind of funding,” Yadav said.What is the I-PAC?Founded by political strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, I-PAC is known for managing high-profile election campaigns across India. Yadav also took a swipe at the consultancy ecosystem, saying, “We thought that if we have to work with a ‘winning agency’, then there are several big companies.”In April, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Vinesh Chandel, a co-founder of the firm, in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal scam in West Bengal.The federal agency has alleged a ‘hawala’ operation where crores were moved into I-PAC's parent company to “convert black money into white.” Though Chandel was released on bail last week, the controversy appears to have prompted the Samajwadi Party to distance itself as it prepares for a “make-or-break” battle against the BJP.‘What Didi faced, we experienced in 2022’: AkhileshYadav also attacked the ruling BJP and the Election Commission. He claimed that the 2024 bypolls in UP were a showcase of a “multi-layered election mafia model”. He alleged that SP voters, specifically from the Muslim and Yadav communities, were systematically disenfranchised.“In 2022, around 18,000 votes were either deleted or shifted,” Yadav claimed. “What 'Didi' [Mamata Banerjee] has faced, we experienced in 2022," he claimed.“SP polling agents were removed forcibly and results were changed. Central forces had removed SP counting agents forcibly. The Election Commission kept sleeping on all objections given by our party. Media houses are also hand in glove with the BJP and multi-layered election mafia.”West Bengal SIRThe Special Intensive Revision (SIR) ahead of the West Bengal polls deleted 90 lakh voters in the state. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who had been in power for 15 years, ultimately lost the election to the BJP.“We all know how BJP is managing elections and manipulating it,” Yadav said, thanking SP workers for their efforts in past polls. “It’s because of them a full majority government couldn’t be formed.”'Lessons from bengal will be implemented'Yadav questioned why vote counting cannot be publicly broadcast. “When court proceedings can be telecasted live, why can’t counting be streamed live?” he asked. He asked the Supreme Court to take cognisance of the issue and demanded that CCTV recordings of vote counting in West Bengal be made public.“The learning from Bengal will now be implemented in Uttar Pradesh or maybe something bigger will be done here,” he said. “In 2027, PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) is going to register a historic win.” He also said that the party “will continue to work as an INDIA alliance partner.”