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Akhilesh Yadav attacks BJP over Nitin Agarwal filing nomination for deputy speaker post
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also says BJP government has no work except changing the names of projects and places
Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party over SP MLA Nitin Agarwal filing his nomination for the deputy speaker’s post in the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly with the support of the ruling party.
“Which party does the candidate put up by the BJP belong to?” he asked.
Nitin Agarwal was a minister of state in SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s government. He, along with his father Naresh Agarwal, joined the BJP in 2018. The SP’s petition seeking Nitin Agarwal’s disqualification was rejected recently and he, technically, continues to be an SP MLA even after joining the BJP.
“What can be expected of a government which inaugurates already inaugurated projects, and lays the foundation stone of the projects, for which the foundation stone has already been laid?” the SP chief asked.
Akhilesh Yadav also said the BJP government “has no work to do except changing names (of places or the projects of the previous government).”
In a play on words, he said, “Uttar Pradesh needs a ‘yogya’ (competent) government and not a Yogi government.” The Samajwadi Party chief was speaking at a press conference at the party headquarters in Lucknow soon after former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) state president RS Kushwaha and former MP Kadir Rana joined the SP.
Akhilesh Yadav reiterated his party’s demand for a caste census. When the Congress was in power at the Centre, Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav), RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and Sharad Yadav had demanded that a caste census be done, he said.
The Samajwadi Party chief also attacked the BJP government over the rising prices of petrol, diesel and LPG.
“At a number of places, the price of petrol has crossed ₹100 per litre, and the public is forced to buy everything at a higher price. The prices of diesel and LPG cylinders have also increased. Do they have an answer to this?” he asked.
The Samajwadi Party chief, who has claimed that his party will win 400 seats in the 2022 UP assembly elections, said: “It has been heard that the BJP is going to deny tickets to its 150 MLAs. In the past, 100 MLAs protested in the state assembly against chief minister Yogi Adityanath. We already have 50 MLAs. So, the calculation is simple. We have crossed 300 seats already.”
(With inputs from agencies)
