The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s “Rozgaar Do–Samajik Nyay Do” padyatra in Uttar Pradesh, entered its tenth day with massive public energy as senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh led thousands in a growing wave of dissent. Across Pratapgarh and into Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, people poured out of homes, shops, and chaupals, turning it into a full-blown ‘jan-andolan’.
Youth, women, farmers, weavers, labourers, and small traders walked shoulder to shoulder, while ‘ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) Bahus’, Anganwadi workers, Shiksha Mitras, Shiksha Anudeshaks, and employees demanding restoration of the old pension scheme joined in large numbers to amplify the call of “Rozgaar Do–Samajik Nyay Do.” The padyatra drew unprecedented support from the people of Prayagraj, signalling a deepening anger against the government and a rising demand for jobs and justice.
UP Prabhari and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh stated, “The BJP government has pushed the youth of Uttar Pradesh into such darkness of unemployment that lakhs of young people, even with degrees, are in despair because every recruitment doorway is either shut by scams or burnt in the fire of paper leaks. The policy failures of the government have thrown the youth into a whirlpool of scams happening in the name of continuous examinations and paper leaks.”
He continued, “On one hand, not a single teacher recruitment has taken place in Uttar Pradesh since 2018, and on the other hand, from Sipahi (constable) to Lekhpal, Daroga (sub-inspector), PCS-J (Provincial Civil Services–Judicial), and even High School and Inter examinations, papers are being leaked. This has left young people so hopeless that many are being forced to take their own lives.”
Criticising the state of farmers and small industries, Sanjay Singh said, “The wrong decisions of the BJP government have broken the backbone of farmers, weavers, and small and cottage industries, pushing them to the brink of collapse. Due to expensive electricity, weavers have been forced to shut down their work, farmers are not receiving fair prices for their crops, and small traders are facing bulldozers on their establishments. This is why this ‘padyatra’ has emerged as the voice of those young people who are compelled to wander from place to place in search of employment.”
Highlighting rising atrocities, he added, “Incidents of atrocities against Dalits, backward communities, and the marginalized have increased at an alarming rate. The country and the state is run on the Constitution of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar and will continue to do so, not on the diktats of some ‘baba’. The government must change its anti-people policies. Our ‘Rozgaar Do – Samajik Nyay Do’ padyatra is the voice of unemployed youth and the Dalit, backward, oppressed, and marginalised communities whose rights have been suppressed for years.”
He further added, “The BJP works to divide the country and wants to end mutual brotherhood. But we will not allow this to happen. We do not want an India filled with hatred. We want an India where people hold each other’s hands and move forward, where religion and caste are not walls but identities of humanity. This country was built with love, and only love can save it. The AAP is fighting for that very brotherhood which is the core spirit of this nation’s soil.”
Along the route, the padyatra witnessed strong public participation as people carried placards of Babasaheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, Jyotiba Phule, and Bhagat Singh, repeatedly raising the pledge of ‘Rozgaar Do – Samajik Nyay Do’. In many places, women showered flowers in welcome, children raised slogans, and elders blessed the participants saying that this padyatra is not just a political change but the beginning of a social awakening.
