Akhilesh Yadav Slams Govt over Shrinking Manufacturing

Lucknow, May 28 (PTI) Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday alleged that the root cause of "imbalanced development and income inequality" in the country lies in the steady decline of domestic manufacturing and production as major industrial houses shift their focus towards trading.

In a post on X, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister claimed industrial houses were being gradually dismantled, leading to a loss of value for indigenous raw materials, skills, and craftsmanship, which in turn was severely impacting employment opportunities.

Yadav in his post also posted a video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in Gandhinagar on Tuesday in which he stressed the need to focus on tier-2 and tier-3 cities to make India the third largest economy of the world.

People should say no to imported products and purchase only locally-made items to strengthen the economy, Modi had said.

Yadav in his post in Hindi said, "There is a glaring contradiction in the government's economic policy. While the slogan of self-reliance is loudly propagated from the stage, behind the scenes deals are being struck to import goods and services from multinational corporations, effectively turning us into their selling agents."


Such policies are forcing the Indian economy to become dependent on imported finished goods, rather than empowering domestic production, he said.

"The worst part is that while the government speaks of Atmanirbharta (self-reliance), it is promoting tie-ups with foreign giants, undermining local industry," he added.

Yadav said that this approach is exacerbating income inequality.

"The rich are getting richer and the poor poorer," he remarked, warning that no government can make the nation truly prosperous by "betraying its own economy".

"A government that behaves like a showpiece elephant - different teeth for show and for eating - cannot lead the country to real prosperity," he said, adding that true development lies not in trillion-dollar economic figures but in improving per capita income and reducing inequality.