Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, former chief minister and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said that the SP-BSP-RLD alliance was giving sleepless night to the ruling party leadership, forcing Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to talk about ‘Ali’ and ‘Bajrangbali’.
“This time the mahagathbandhan comprises people who believe in Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia. Earlier, when Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) and Kanshiramji had formed an alliance, the BJP had conspired to break it, but this time it is stronger and is already giving sleepless nights to the people in BJP,” Akhilesh said while addressing an election rally in Etah on Wednesday.
Etah will go to polls in the third phase on April 23.
The SP has forged a pre-poll alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal for the 2019 Lok Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh. The SP is contesting 37 seats while the BSP and RLD are contesting 38 and three seats, respectively.
Taking a jibe at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the SP president said, “Our Chief Minister is speaking about Ali and Bajrangbali. God knows in which direction he wants to take this election. He is trying to communalise the election and the Election Commission should take note of this.”
The former chief minister also attacked the BJP over growing unemployment. He said unemployment would grow further if the BJP returned to power.
Akhilesh said the farming community was not in the agenda of the BJP therefore it had levied higher GST on farm equipment but had lowered tax on diamond.
Yadav also blamed the wrong policies of the Narendra Modi-led BJP government for the Naxalite attack in Chhattisgarh in which a legislator and four security personnel were killed.
“Due to the wrong policies of the BJP government, our soldiers are being martyred every day. The BJP had claimed that it would end Naxalism but in today’s newspaper, one must have read about Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh in which four security personnel and a BJP MLA lost their lives. This is not an issue for the BJP. This will not be any big news as they are the government at Centre,” he said.
Criticising the BJP for taking credit of the valour of soldiers in protecting the borders of the nation, the SP president said Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was released after the US exerted pressure on Pakistan and not because of what the BJP government did.
The former chief minister said, “The borders of the country are not safe today, but if you dare to ask any question you will be termed ‘anti-national’. BJP is seeking votes in the name of Balakot air strike. But I want to tell them that our borders are safe because of our soldiers and not because of the BJP.”
