Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, on Wednesday, sought to corner Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by citing a Supreme Court observation and asking whether the state government will now seek forgiveness for razing houses using bulldozers.
On Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s retort that it takes “heart and mind” and “bulldozer-like resolve” to run a bulldozer, Akhilesh added that a bulldozer does not have a brain, “but has a steering”.
“Who knows when the people of Uttar Pradesh will change someone’s steering or when the people of Delhi will change someone’s steering,” the SP chief said in a lighter note.
Akhilesh Yadav had on Tuesday said that the direction of the bulldozers would be turned towards Gorakhpur, the home district of the chief minister, after 2027, if the SP forms its government in the state.
Currently engaged in an exchange of barbs with the chief minister over the use of bulldozers, the Lok Sabha MP said the Supreme Court had observed that the “bulldozer action” was not constitutional.
Addressing reporters, Akhilesh Yadav remarked that the way the court has operated the bulldozer, the bulldozer cannot operate now.
He said the people used to scare others with bulldozers, used to demolish people’s houses in various places, and asked if the map of the chief minister’s residence was approved by the competent authority?
“Tell us when it was passed, show the papers. You deliberately ran the bulldozer on those with whom you wanted to take revenge, to humiliate them… Yesterday the Supreme Court said that a bulldozer cannot be used. So, will the government apologise for the bulldozer operation that was going on till now or not?” he asked.
He further said as far as heart and mind are concerned, “I just want to say that there is no brain in a bulldozer, it is run by the steering. The people of Uttar Pradesh can change the steering of someone’s bulldozer…”
He said if Yogi Adityanath and his bulldozers were so successful, then he should form a separate party and contest elections with the ‘bulldozer’ election symbol.
“Your illusions and pride will be shattered. Anyway, in your current situation, even if you are in BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), you are as good as’'no’; you will have to form a separate party, if not today then tomorrow,” he said.
“As far as the bulldozer is concerned, think what kind of bulldozer has been run by the court that now the bulldozer cannot run. Those who used to scare people with bulldozers, used to demolish people’s houses at various places. This means that you deliberately ran the bulldozer to humiliate those you wanted to take revenge against and because of arrogance of power. Now, the result is that from the High Court to the Supreme Court, it can be said that the bulldozer is not constitutional but unconstitutional,” Yadav said.
