Centre ‘using’ ED to intimidate Oppn: Akhilesh

The SP chief also alleged that the pressure was exerted by the BJP on the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Omprakash Rajbhar to break alliance with SP

The Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday alleged that the BJP-led government at the Centre was intimidating the opposition by “using Enforcement Directorate (ED)”.

Akhilesh Yadav was responding to queries of media persons at LBS international airport, Varanasi. (HT file)

Akhilesh was responding to queries of media persons at LBS international airport, Varanasi, on his way to Jaunpur. Later, the SP chief paid tribute to Hansraj Jagnandan Yadav, the father of SP leader Karmanand Hansraj Yadav, in Khuwayan village of Jaunpur on his death anniversary.

He also alleged that the pressure was exerted by the BJP on the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Omprakash Rajbhar to break the alliance and make rhetoric. It may be that the SBSP chief was making statements under pressure from the ED, he alleged. Akhilesh “blamed” the BJP for the end of his party’s alliance with the SBSP.

When asked regarding “AC” remarks made against him by the SBSP chief, Akhilesh claimed someone else’s soul had entered Rajbhar. “He (Rajbhar) needs to go to some exorcist, then only he would be cured,” he said.

On his uncle Shivpal Yadav, Akhilesh said, “He (Shivpal) felt that I was not giving him respect, so I set him free. He should serve farmers, the helpless and the poor by making his own party again.”

He said the Samajwadi Party will win Rampur and Azamgarh seats again and asked his party workers to start preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Several SP leaders, including Vivek Ranjan Yadav, welcomed the SP chief in Jaunpur.