SP chief Akhilesh likens BJP to ‘Ravana’ on free bus travel promise

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government of failing to deliver on its promise of free bus travel for women on Raksha Bandhan, likening the alleged betrayal to Ravana’s deception. He shared videos of women struggling to find buses and seats, claiming the announcement was not implemented properly.

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said that even Ravana did not deceive his sisters the way BJP has, as he alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government failed to honour its promise of free bus travel for women on Raksha Bandhan.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) president shared a video clip on X showing a mud-filled bus depot in Prayagraj, with people purportedly struggling to find buses on Raksha Bandhan.

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He claimed that women across the state on Friday complained about the unavailability of buses, lack of seats and buses not stopping at the designated points.

The Uttar Pradesh government had announced free travel for women accompanied by one person on all Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation buses from August 27 midnight to Friday midnight to facilitate their travel on Raksha Bandhan.

The government also directed the transport department, police and local administrations to ensure smooth and safe travel for women.

“Even Ravana did not deceive his sisters the way they (BJP) have. The unrighteous BJP and its ‘sangi-saathi’ (associates – a veiled reference to RSS) have turned out to be bigger liars than Dashanan, because they speak 10 times more lies with more than 10 mouths,” he said.

“Ravana deceived only once by changing his disguise, whereas they (BJP) remain in the same disguise and keep deceiving and cheating people,” Yadav said.

The former chief minister added, “The BJP may spread as much mud as it wants now, its lotus will not bloom. The BJP will go, and will never come back again.”

Assembly elections are due in Uttar Pradesh next year.

The video Yadav shared with his post was a compilation of purported social-media complaints by women from different locations in Uttar Pradesh.

They alleged that buses were unavailable despite the free travel announcement, that seats were not available, and that some buses were not stopping at the designated points, allegedly to avoid carrying women passengers free of cost.

In an earlier X post on Friday, Yadav directly targeted the government’s free bus travel announcement, using the Hindi word “be-bas” – meaning helpless – as a play on the word bus.

“Be-bus behnein (helpless sisters): After promising free buses on Raksha Bandhan, they removed the buses themselves!” Yadav said.

He added, “‘Even if life is lost, a promise must not be broken’ – even those belonging to the Raghuvansh, who said this, were deceived by these BJP people. How can one expect them to keep their promises?”