From their home turf, Akhilesh, Shivpal assail Yogi
Yogi had addressed a public meeting here on April 25 in support of BJP candidate and minister in the UP cabinet, Jaiveer Singh.
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AGRA: In their first joint meeting held in Jaswant Nagar, the assembly constituency of the Mainpuri Lok Sabha, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav, national general secretary of the party, criticised the BJP and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for his ‘pariwarwad’ remark made at a public meeting in the constituency a few days back.
Akhilesh and Shivpal addressed a joint public meeting on Wednesday in support of party candidate and sitting MP Dimple Yadav at Jaswant Nagar, which is represented by Shivpal Yadav as the MLA.
The bitterness stemming from the recent public meeting of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was evident during today’s event, leading to a war of words. Yogi had addressed a public meeting here on April 25 in support of BJP candidate and minister in the UP cabinet, Jaiveer Singh.
Addressing the gathering, Yogi targeted the Yadav clan on the issue of ‘pariwarwad’, questioning if there were no ‘Yaduvanshis’ capable of contesting elections for the Samajwadi Party other than those from the Safai family. Taking a jibe at Shivpal Yadav, Yogi expressed pity for Shivpal Yadav’s situation.
“Chacha (Shivpal) used to be a trusted lieutenant of party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, being both his brother and having a significant influence. Now, he has lost all his stature and isn’t even provided a chair to sit on; he opts for the handle of a chair,” Yogi said.
In response to Yogi, Shivpal Yadav urged voters in Jaswant Nagar to give a fitting reply to the BJP over such remarks.
‘BJP ghatia party hai......ghatia star par utar aai hai.....jhoot bolti hai....brahmit karti hai....unko sabk sikha do’ (BJP is a substandard party that has stooped to a low level of discourse, spreading lies and deceiving the masses. Teach them a lesson,” Shivpal said in his address at Jaswant Nagar.
“Instead of addressing issues like the hardships faced by farmers, inflation, and unemployment, BJP is more concerned about ‘pariwarwad.’ They should know that if they mock the family of Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav), people in UP, especially in Jaswant Nagar, will not tolerate it and will defeat them (BJP) by a big margin,” he said.
“Yogi Adityanath may appear saint by his attire, but not in his words. He often says, ‘poor Shivpal has got nothing. I want to remind ‘Babaji’ of everything the Samajwadi Party has given me. I have been elected as an MLA six times, served as the party president in the state, been the leader of the opposition in the house, and chaired cooperatives for 15 years. I had a significant role in governance during our regime, but it is the CM whose words are not being given importance,” Shivpal added.
He urged voters in Mainpuri to turn out in large numbers and vote for the daughter-in-law (Dimple Yadav) to deliver a resounding response to the BJP.
Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav also responded to Yogi’s comments, saying that ‘Chacha’ would confront the BJP now.
“The chief minister should understand that it’s not ‘churan’ but ‘prasad’ that is distributed after the Satya Narain Katha,” said Akhilesh, asserting that the CM becomes nervous whenever he encounters his uncle.
Akhilesh Yadav continued to allege that if the BJP returned to power it would change the constitution. “Media persons ask how BJP could do such a thing. My response is that the BJP implemented demonetisation overnight and introduced Agniveer suddenly. They couldn’t bear to see rural youth enjoying better lives after joining the armed forces, so they decided to scrap permanent jobs in the forces,” he stated.
“If the INDIA bloc comes to power, it will abolish Agniveer and revert to the previous job structure in the defence services,” Akhilesh added.
Citing a report from the labour department, he highlighted that 83% of the country’s population was unemployed, farmers were distressed, and jobs were scarce for the youth. Additionally, he expressed concern over the rampant leakage of papers for recruitment exams. He said that the departure of the BJP government was inevitable.