BJP govt has failed to protect India from arbitrary tariffs, Visa Fees: Akhilesh
Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has hit out at the BJP-led Indian government, accusing it of failing to safeguard India’s interests against arbitrary tariffs and steep visa fees imposed abroad.
According to Kashmir Media Service, in a post on microblogging platform X, Yadav charged that the Modi government had abandoned the country’s principles of non-alignment while failing to maintain stable relations with neighbouring countries or protect overseas Indians from humiliation and violent attacks.
“The BJP government is unable to protect India from arbitrary tariffs and arbitrary visa fees,” he said, adding that the Centre has left overseas Indians vulnerable to “handcuffs, chains, public humiliation and violent attacks.”
Addressing reporters at the Samajwadi Party office in Lucknow, Yadav specifically slammed Modi government over the United States’ decision to raise H-1B visa fees to USD 100,000 (around Rs 88 lakh) annually — a move expected to severely impact Indian professionals.
“Your foreign policy has failed in foreign countries. Your economic policies have failed. You have failed in making relationships,” Yadav told the media.
The SP chief further alleged that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was discouraging education and employment abroad, claiming, “He wants guns in people’s hands, not books. He does not want anyone to go abroad for studies or work, only to operate guns. People can go to Russia, join the army there, or to Israel to fight alongside its forces. Those with H-1B visas could have secured good jobs, but this government has failed them.”
Yadav maintained that visa relief for Indians would only be possible “once the Modi government is out of power.”
The sharp criticism came after US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Friday raising H-1B visa fees as part of a broader crackdown on immigration. The White House said the measure was intended to ensure only highly skilled workers are admitted and to protect American workers from being displaced.
