Akhilesh Yadav mocks BJP’s ‘400 paar’ slogan: ‘I have heard that…’

Doubling down on the opposition’s claim that a two-thirds majority in the Parliament will be weaponised to change the Constitution, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party has been unable to raise the ‘400 paar’ slogan since the voting started for Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking to reporters in Kanpur Dehat, Akhilesh Yadav asserted that the BJP’s slogan of ‘400 paar’ (win in over 400 seats) has now been replaced by ‘400 haar’ (defeat in 400 seats).
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister took a dig at the BJP’s campaign rhetoric and said the saffron party is now resorting to discussions about the Constitution and reservation policies instead of confidently promoting their ‘400 paar’ slogan.
“The BJP has been flipped by the people and they are lagging behind. This is not ‘400 paar’, it is ‘400 haar’. I have heard that they are unable to raise the slogan of ‘400 paar’. Now they are speaking of the Constitution and reservation. They have understood that the people are voting for saving the Constitution,” Akhilesh Yadav said.
He said SP had mentioned that it would provide free wheat and free data if the INDIA bloc came to power at the centre.
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Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday filed his nomination from Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj Lok Sabha seat.
In the build-up to the 2024 elections, “400 paar” was the rallying cry and a triumphalist assertion by the BJP.
The opposition parties, including Congress, alleged that the slogan was aimed at getting a two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha that is required to change the Constitution.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi charged the opposition with trying to “steal” reservations meant for OBCs, SCs and STs “for the sake of their favourite vote bank of Muslims”. He said the BJP wants 400 seats to stop them from snatching the quotas of Dalits and Other Backward Classes.