Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his “red beacon” attack, saying that the red colour symbolised emotions, revolution and change, which the Bharatiya Janata Party does not understand.
“This isn’t a new language. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath too had spoken about ‘red caps’ earlier. Red is the colour of emotions and the BJP does not understand emotions. Life exists because of the red colour in it. What is the colour of blood? Red is the colour of revolution, of change,” Akhilesh said.
“People of Uttar Pradesh want development. Farmers continued to protest against the three contentious farm laws and numerous died in the process. Did the government understand their emotions? MPs are sitting on protest. Can the government understand their emotions? The BJP cannot understand emotions as it is devoid of sensitivity. It’s getting ousted from the state and there will definitely be a change in UP,” he added.
The SP chief’s response came after the Prime Minister Modi equated the red caps worn by Samajwadi Party workers with ‘red beacons’, suggesting hunger for power and also sounded a ‘red alert’ during his address at a rally in Yogi Adityanath’s home turf Gorakhpur. Modi had also said that the SP wanted to form the next state government to free terrorists.
Reacting to Modi’s jibe, Akhilesh, on Tuesday, said that the red caps were a red alert for the BJP. In a tweet, he also listed price rise, unemployment and the Lakhimpur Kheri violence involving farmers among the other ‘red alerts’ for the ruling party.