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Akhilesh calls dy CM ‘Mohra’, Keshav Maurya hits back
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav calls U.P. deputy CM a 'pawn', triggering a war of words. Accuses BJP govt of corruption. Yadav emphasizes focus on saving the SP from extinction.
Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday called U.P. deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya a ‘Mohra’ (pawn) prompting the latter to hit back, calling the SP chief the ‘Mohra’ of the Congress party and advising him to focus on saving his party from extinction instead.
Yadav said the SP had been highlighting since the beginning that the (UP) government was neck-deep in corruption.
“But now corruption is being exposed because some people have become pawns (within the BJP) against the BJP UP government leadership. I heard that Maurya ji (deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya) is a pawn, a password of Delhi’s Wi-Fi!,’’ the SP chief said at a press conference at the party’s state headquarters in Lucknow after unveiling a “Samvidhan Manstambh” there.
When reporters asked why both the deputy CMs did not attend the CM Yogi’s meetings, Yadav again repeated, ‘’You did not understand. I am saying that these are the passwords of Delhi’s Wi-Fi!.’’
Hitting back, deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, in a post in Hindi on X, wrote: “The SP leader, Akhilesh Yadav, who has become a ‘Mohra’ of the Congress, is harbouring misunderstandings about the BJP. Instead of targeting and insulting the backward sections, focus on saving SP from extinction. The BJP will repeat 2017 in 2027.”
In another post, Maurya wrote: “The SP chief and his clan are the hardcore enemies of the backwards and Dalits. SP’s PDA is a deceit. Akhilesh Yadav is a pawn of the Congress that played into the hands of the foreign power and did not leave any stone unturned in preventing Narendra Modi from becoming the PM for the third time.”
Reacting to Maurya’s counter-remark, Yadav said: “We are Samajwadi Mohre. We are Mohre of the poor.”
Earlier, at the press conference, Yadav said, “The government used to claim that there is a zero-tolerance policy and especially on corruption and law and order, but now their leaders themselves are saying that we have not seen such corruption in our political life.”
He said there were reports that the police had become dacoits. “Police are catching the police,” the SP chief said while referring to a recent incident in Ballia where senior officials arrested police personnel extorting money from truck drivers.
‘’In the riots that happened in Kanpur (in June), the police collected money by scaring Muslims. When it came to the notice of the government, the government had to remove the officer,” Yadav added.
On the establishment of “Samvidhan Manstambh”, the SP chief said, “It was necessary for the backward people who are not getting their rights or are fighting against inequality. The fight has to be strengthened for those who are not able to prosper.”
The SP chief said the PDA family has finished communal politics in the country through the 2024 LS polls. The PDA family defeated ‘M-Y’ factor of the BJP, the SP chief said.
Accusing the BJP of casteism, he said: ‘’The basic spirit of reservation has been tampered with. The BJP has ended the competition. That is why there should be a caste census and jobs should be given according to (a share of a caste in) the population. For that, the socialists will continue the long battle.”
On the question of SP MLAs Manoj Pandey, Rakesh Singh, Abhay Singh and others voting in favour of the BJP during the Rajya Sabha elections, Yadav said: ‘’The assembly will give us justice. The membership of such people who betrayed the socialists should be terminated.”
On being asked about SP MLA from Sirathu Pallavi Patel’s reported meeting with CM Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday, Yadav said she must have gone to meet him to save her membership. Although the SP MLA and Apna Dal(K) leader Pallavi Patel had voted for the SP candidates in the RS polls, she allied with the AIMIM during the LS polls.
However, Akhilesh Yadav said: “We will not act against her for she is from PDA family.” Observers say that by the statement, Akhilesh has attempted to extend an olive branch to Apna Dal (K).
When asked by when the SP would name the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in UP assembly, Akhilesh Yadav evaded reply. The post of LoP in the assembly has been vacant since Akhilesh Yadav quit the post last month when he resigned his Karhal assembly seat to retain the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat.
