While the much-awaited first phase of lucknow Metro rail was being inaugurated, protesting Samajwadi Party cadres pasted posters at the Transport Nagar metro station crediting their leader and former CM Akhilesh Yadav for the project.
A poster screamed, `Akhilesh bhai mehnat karen, laddu khaaye fakir’. Several SP leaders were arrested and taken to Manak Nagar police station.
Akhilesh Yadav also unleashed a war on the cyber space targeting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who too locked horns withhis predecessor over Tweitter.
The Chief Minister’s office posted a 2.27-minute video on its official Twitter handle, in which Adityanath was seen saying, “Your wish has finally come true. This Metro is yours. This is a gift for you from the Central and state governments.”
The CM further added, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always been in favour of a congestion-free, cheaper and eco-friendly public transport system.”
About an hour before the CM’s office tweeted the video, Akhilesh Yadav posted his pictures on his Twitter handle with team members and officials of lucknow Metro Rail Corporation. The photos were clicked when Akhilesh Yadav was the chief minister and were published as full-page advertisements in leading newspapers in lucknow.
The advertisement said, ‘Akhilesh Yadav ke sapno ki Metro me ab lucknow karega safar’. The accompanying photos showed Akhilesh and wife Dimple handing over the keys to female drivers of the Metro, Akhilesh, his wife, father Mulayam Singh Yadav and SP leader Azam Khan travelling on the Metro train and Akhilesh and Mulayam flagging off the Metro train. The sponsor of the advertisement was SP leader Santosh Yadav of Ghazipur, who also said, “lucknow Metro: Kaam Apka, Naam Apka”.
Akhilesh posted a series of tweets claiming credit for the Metro services. “lucknow Metro will make life easy and people will remember Sreedharanji and his team that made the dream come true,” he tweeted. “Engine toh pehle hi chal dia tha, dibbey to peechey aanee hi the (The engine had already started running, bogies had to follow),” he tweeted with pictures of Metro inauguration to convey that the major part of the project had been completed during his stint as Chief Minister.
“Before sitting in the Metro started by the Samajwadis, the government should take care of 5,000 stray cattle on the roads,” he said in another tweet.
The lucknow Metro rail was the flagship project of the previous Samajwadi Party regime. The project was inaugurated by the then SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on December 2,2016, ahead of the Assembly elections held in March this year.
The BJP had attacked the Akhilesh government during the Assembly poll campaign, asking why the Metro trains were not running in lucknow even after the inauguration. As the matter got politicised, Akhilesh had shot back saying it was due to the delay in obtaining clearance from Commissioner, Metro Railway Safety and blamed the Centre for it. SP leader and MlC Rajpal Kashyap said that the BJP government should tell the people that the lucknow Metro project was started by the Akhilesh dispensation.