In an obvious reference to the BJP, former Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Saturday that those who won 325 seats in Assembly polls were scared of facing the people again and were busy engineering defections from Opposition parties.
“People are evaluating their performance. So, those who had recently won 325 seats and have to face the people for entering the Assembly, do not have the courage to do so and were therefore weaning away our MlCs,” said Yadav after paying tributes to veteran Socialist leader Janeshwar Mishra on his 85th birth anniversary in lucknow on Saturday.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his four ministers have to seek election to either of the two Houses before September 19to retain their ministerial post.
In an apparent reference to stone pelting on the motorcade of Congress vice president in Gujarat on Friday, the SP chief said, “UP mein bandookbaaj hai to Gujarat mein pattharbaaj hain. The MlCs who defected to the BJP from SP were now indulging in stone pelting on us.’’
“I want to know why the Chief Minister and his four ministers are so scared of facing the people and seek election as member of the Assembly. They peddled the dream of ‘ acche din’ and misled people to grab power at the Centre and the state. They have shattered the trust of the people,” he said.
“Those who have to part ways with the party will do so and we are not stopping anyone. We are in fact happy as this would open new avenues for the younger generation in our party as large number of youths have joined and many more want to be associated with us,’’ said Akhilesh.
Terming Yogi government’s first 100 days as `disappointing and disasterous’, Akhilesh said, “The BJP government has shattered the confidence of the people. The CM claimed that the government freed over 1,000 hectares of land from land mafia. If it is true, he should make the names of those who occupied public and private land, public.’’
The SP chief said that the free lPG scheme failed to benefit the poor as they had no resources to buy refill cylinders. “People got the free lPG connection and the stove, but they cannot cook on that as they are unable to buy the gas cylinder.’’
Terming the first budget of Yogi government as `anti- development’, Akhilesh said, “BJP is ruling both at the Centre and the state yet they were unable to announce a scheme or a big project for the development of the state.’’
Targeting CM Yogi Adityanath for scrapping schemes of the previous SP regime, Akhilesh said,”The government deleted Samajwadi from 108 Ambulance Scheme. Houses in rural areas constructed under lohia Awas Yojna are lying vacant and Dial 100 Service is also not working. The CM himself said that the police was extorting money from people. If this is the situation then the CM is responsible for the decline in standards of Dial 100 service.’’