Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav’s official Facebook account, which had been temporarily suspended, has now been restored, according to party sources on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, stated unequivocally that the government had “no role” in the account’s temporary blockage.
He clarified, “An abusive post originated from his account, leading Facebook to block it in line with their established policies.”
Upon its restoration, Mr. Yadav used his account on Saturday morning to share a poignant quote from Jayaprakash Narayan, honoring the socialist leader’s birth anniversary.
The post quoted, “By ‘Sampoorn Kraanti’ (complete revolution), I mean witnessing the most oppressed individuals in society ascend to the pinnacle of power.”
While SP spokesperson Deepak Ranjan confirmed both the suspension and the subsequent restoration of the prominent social media page, the party’s chief spokesperson, Rajendra Chaudhary, expressed a different sentiment to a news agency. He stated, “I am not yet aware if it has been restored, but the fundamental question remains: who orchestrated this suspension? This action was a blatant attempt to stifle democratic opinion and suppress the truth.”
Earlier, following the alleged suspension of the account, which boasts over 8 million followers, SP leaders had sharply criticized the BJP government, accusing it of imposing an “undeclared emergency designed to silence every dissenting voice.”
Sources confirmed that the account was initially suspended on Friday, around 6 p.m. local time.
The Facebook page serves as a crucial platform for the SP chief to articulate his perspectives, draw attention to perceived governmental “shortcomings,” and engage directly with his vast base of supporters.
In response to the account’s suspension, Rajeev Rai, a Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha MP from Ghosi, posted on X (formerly Twitter), stating, “Facebook’s action to block the account of the leader of India’s third-largest parliamentary party, the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav, is not merely regrettable but also an affront to India’s democratic framework. If this occurred at the behest of the ruling party, it is a clear display of cowardice.”
He further cautioned that any attempt to stifle the voices of socialists would be a grave “mistake.”
Additionally, SP spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan Chaand, in a separate post on X, alleged that the BJP government had effectively imposed an “undeclared emergency.”
He affirmed, “However, the Samajwadi Party remains resolute in its opposition to the BJP’s anti-people policies.”