After the attack by Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati and verbal spat between Chief Minister Yogi-Adityanath and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, now Congress leader Ajay Rai on Wednesday said the “bulldozer culture” in Uttar Pradesh was not in line with the judicial system and must be stopped.

On Tuesday, Mayawati had claimed that the state should be run with the rule of the law and not by “bulldozer”. She said that one could take example of how during her regime, law and order was completely under control by strictly following the rule of the law.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Rai’s remark came in the wake of a barbative exchange between Akhilesh Yadav and Yogi Adityanath over the use of bulldozer –a machine which has become emblematic of the iron fist rule of the UP chief minister.

The exchange between the two leaders was sparked after the Supreme Court on Monday lambasted the use of bulldozers to demolish the homes of criminals.

Ra hailed the apex court observation and called for a strict implementation of the rule of law.

“We welcome the order given by the Supreme Court and any decision should be made as per the judiciary so that the people can get justice. There is no place for bulldozers in the judiciary,” Rai asserted.

Earlier in the day, Yogi Adityanath retorted sharply to Akhilesh Yadav’s threat that he will, after 2027, order all “bulldozers” to Gorakhpur – the home district of the chief minister – saying not everyone has the heart to handle a bulldozer.

“Not everyone’s hands can fit on a bulldozer. It requires both ‘dil and dimaag’,” Yogi Adityanath said.

Yadav, in a statement on Tuesday, had said, “As soon as the Samajwadi government is formed in 2027, the bulldozers of the entire state will head towards Gorakhpur.”

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan on Monday, during a hearing, had remarked, “How can anybody’s house be demolished only because he is an accused? Even if he is a convict, still it can’t be done without following the procedure as prescribed by law.”

BSP president Mayawati on Tuesday welcomed the observation of the apex court, which said it will lay down the guidelines in the matter to be implemented across the country.