The state unit of Bhartiya Janata Party slammed Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav for not paying tributes to former chief minister of UP, Kalyan Singh, at the departed leader’s residence or any other place and alleged that the SP chief was overwhelmed by political compulsion of appeasing Muslims and hence decided to skip the necessary courtesy.
Taking a jibe at the SP chief on Tuesday, BJP state president Swatantra Dev Singh tweeted, “Akhilesh ji was just 1 km from Kalyan Singh's residence. But could not come to pay homage to 'Babuji' in nearby Mall Avenue in the state capital. Has the fascination of Muslim vote bank stopped him from paying tribute to the biggest leader of the Backward Classes?"
Similar view was aired by BJP's Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj, who charged that the SP chief did not pay last respects to Kalyan Singh only to appease the Muslims before the 2022 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.
BJP MP from Kannauj and party’s state general secretary Subrata Pathak said," If SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had paid respects to the mortal remains of Kalyan Singh, they would have had the last chance to wash off the sins of bullets fired on Ram devotees in Ayodhya in 1990." Incidentally, Pathak had defeated the SP chief’s wife Dimple Yadav at Kannauj in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the BJP MP claimed that SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav did not pay tributes and respect to a leader like Kalyan Singh which hardly affected Babuji’s stature. He said that it was true that if both had the last darshan of Kalyan Singh in Lucknow, it would have given them the chance to wash away the sins of committing atrocities like ordering police firing on kar sevaks at Ayodhya in 1990. Pathak alleged that this attitude of opposition leaders indicated their “Talibani mentality”.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary refuted all the charges, saying that Akhilesh Yadav was in Saifai when Kalyan Singh ji passed away while Mulayam Singh Yadav was unwell and was in Delhi.
“Akhileshji had spoken to Kalyan Singh's son Rajveer on phone to express his grief and will meet the family soon," Chaudhary said.