Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav has challenged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to release a district-wise breakdown of the 64,000 acres of land that the state government claims to have recovered from illegal encroachments since 2017.
In a post on social media platform X, Yadav demanded specific details to verify the chief minister's claim. He asked for the land records and area-wise breakup to establish the credibility of the statement.
Akhilesh Yadav questions land recovery claim
According to ThePrint, the UP government had earlier stated that it recovered 64,000 acres from land mafia since 2017. However, Akhilesh Yadav has now demanded that the chief minister make this data public at the district level.
"To establish the credibility of your statement, please also release the district-wise list showing the area and land records of the so-called 64,000 acres of land that you claim to have got vacated." — Akhilesh Yadav, as reported by ThePrint
Escalating attack on BJP government
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also questioned the credibility of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was constituted to probe alleged irregularities. This comes as part of a broader political attack by the SP chief on the state's BJP government.
Yadav's demand for transparency is aimed at verifying whether the land recovery numbers claimed by the government are accurate and whether the process has been carried out fairly across all districts of the state.
Our Take: Transparency is key in land recovery claims
In our view, Akhilesh Yadav's demand for a district-wise breakup is a reasonable request for transparency. When a government makes a large claim like recovering 64,000 acres of land, the public has a right to see the data behind it. District-wise details would allow citizens and opposition parties to verify the claim and ensure that the recovery has been evenly implemented across the state. Without such transparency, large numbers can remain abstract and difficult to trust. The chief minister should consider releasing this information to maintain public confidence in the government's actions against land mafia.
