To promote Swadeshi, India must impose tariff on China: Akhilesh | Lucknow News

Lucknow: Referring to the BJP govt push for use of Swadeshi products, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said the govt should take a cue from the US and shut Indian markets for China or impose 100% tariff on their products to encourage Indian manufacturers.“BJP is only indulging in lip service by making calls for Swadeshi. But at heart they themselves are foreigners. They (BJP) have not done anything to discourage inflow of foreign goods into Indian markets. If they are raising the Swadeshi pitch, why have they opened our Indian markets for imported goods. China has captured the entire Indian market. The BJP govt should learn from the US and impose 100% tariff on China,” Akhilesh said, interacting with the media at the SP headquarters in Lucknow. A senior SP functionary said recently some experts from the industrial sector had met Yadav and underlined the need for creating space for Indian goods in local markets. They were of the view that the festive season was the right time to push Swadeshi by encouraging and the govt should have encouraged the cottage industry by freeing Indian markets of Chinese products. “This can be done by imposing tariffs on China. This would have helped Swadeshi cottage industry to make a comeback. Who knows if the absence of Chinese lights this Diwali would have paved the way for Indian lights which once flooded the market,” the SP functionary told TOI. “The govt is talking about Swadeshi only to divert the attention of the people from real issues like gross neglect of farmers who have been desperately waiting in long queues and facing police batons to get fertilizers. The BJP govt had hit the farmers the worst,” the former UP CM said. He said the govt has done nothing to improve Kisan Mandis. “On the contrary, Kisan Mandis that were set up during the SP regime have been reduced to a tale of neglect. But to hoodwink the poor agriculturists, the govt is talking of digital platforms for the farmers. It is an irony that the govt that has failed to provide fertilizers and does not increase sugarcane procurement price annually, is talking of digital platforms,” he said. Earlier, delegations of Sainthwar and Mall communities led by Ajay Kumar Pintu Singh Singh Sainthwar met Akhilesh. He assured the delegation that after being voted to victory in 2027 assembly polls, the SP govt will install a state of late Kedar Nath Singh at Gomti Riverfront and ensure political participation of the community.