The escalating war of words between chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav has become a daily affair in the run-up to the bypolls to 10 Uttar Pradesh assembly seats.
The use of words like “Aurangzeb”, “Mathadheesh-Mafia”, “Bhasmasur”, “Kutey Ki Poonch”, “Sargana-Sardaar”, “Aaka” or “Babua” has spiced up the sharp verbal exchange between the two leaders.
The latest bout of barbs took place Thursday. While Yogi Adityanath addressed an event in Ayodhya district, Akhilesh expressed his views at a press conference around the same time in Lucknow.
“Kuttey ki dum ki tarah Sapa ke gunday seedhey nahin ho saktey, en se lad kar he enhey seedha kiya ja sakta hai (The SP goons, like a dog’s tail, can’t be straightened; they can be set right by fighting against them),” Adityanath said in Milkipur assembly constituency (in Ayodhya) that will go to bypolls along with nine other U.P. seats. The announcement of the bypoll date is likely anytime after the Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana assembly polls.
Shortly after Yogi’s remark, Akhilesh posted a remark in Hindi on X: “Now, someone is busy in making a world record of uttering abuses. A man’s “mindset” spills out as “words”.”
{{/usCountry}}Shortly after Yogi’s remark, Akhilesh posted a remark in Hindi on X: “Now, someone is busy in making a world record of uttering abuses. A man’s “mindset” spills out as “words”.”
{{/usCountry}}Shortly before that, Akhilesh said at the press conference: “One who gets angry can’t be a Yogi, this is a mathadheesh mukhyamantri. You see my picture and his picture, who looks like a mafia?”
The “mathadheesh” narrative has continued since last Thursday (September 12) when Yadav, at a press conference in Lucknow, had alleged “fake encounters”. In a veiled attack on Adityanath, the SP chief had also said: “There is not much difference between a mathadheesh and a mafia.”
Yogi, in turn, invoked “Sanskaar (upbringing)”. On Wednesday, Yogi counter-attacked Akhilesh in Ghaziabad (another bypoll seat) : “It is his upbringing that prompts him to call India’s Sant tradition mafia.”
“It looks like that Aurangzeb’s spirit has entered him (SP chief),” Adityanath claimed, reviving memories of the run-up to the 2017 UP assembly polls when some BJP leaders had called Akhilesh “Aurangzeb”.
In the same Ghaziabad event, Adityanath also said: “The SP and the Congress have become like Bhasmasur--whenever entrusted with power, they misused it”.
Last week, Yogi, emphasising his government’s tough stance on criminals said: “The gang leader (Sargana) gets troubled when gang members are in trouble”.
On Thursday, Akhilesh countered Yogi’s Bhasmasur remark: “There can’t be two Bhasmasurs. They (BJP) will lose Haryana and Maharashtra as well; BJP should look for their own Bhasmasur first.”
Before this, Yogi said at an event in Lucknow on Tuesday: “General public is safe, but dangaaiyon ke aaka (the chieftain of rioters) are troubled”.
Digging out another word from U.P.’s political lexicon, Yogi on Thursday referred to the previous Akhilesh Yadav regime and said: “Mafia sarkaar chalatey thay; Babua baarah bajey tak sota tha (Mafia used to run the government, while Babua used to sleep till noon)”.
“Babua” is a term which Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati used to refer to Akhilesh some elections ago.
As the bypolls are approaching, there seems to be no let up in the word-rage.
The 10 assembly seats for which bypolls will be held are: Karhal (Mainpuri), Khair (Aligarh ), Kundarki (Moradabad), Katehari (Ambedkar Nagar), Phulpur (Prayagraj), Ghaziabad (Ghaziabad), Majhawan (Mirzapur), Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar), Milkipur (Ayodhya) and Sisamau (Kanpur).