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'SP-BSP in competition to give tickets to criminals': BJP's Yogi Adityanath in Baghpat
Adityanath is contesting the Assembly polls from his home turf Gorakhpur which has long been a BJP bastion. Akhilesh Yadav has also chosen to contest polls from SP stronghold Karhal constituency in Mainpuri.
The campaigning for the high-voltage assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh reached a feverish pitch as political parties continued to target each other in a fresh war of words. On Saturday, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath hit out at the rival Samajwadi Party (SP) and targeted them for giving tickets to leaders with criminal records.
Speaking in a rally in Baghpat, Adityanath said, "They give tickets to criminals." "Look at their candidates from Moradabad... one of them had said 'It's good to see the Taliban in Afghanistan.' Taliban means the opposer of humanity... You're supporting it shamelessly and SP gives them tickets."
He also spoke about the law and order situation during the SP rule in Uttar Pradesh and said, "Women safety was in danger, so much so that girls could not go to schools and Mulayam Singh Ji would say, 'boys make mistakes.'"
Adityanath also brought Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to the tirade and said both parties are in "competition to give tickets to the biggest criminal." "If these criminals become MLA, they will produce guns, not flowers and there is only one way to treat them: JCB and bulldozer," he said.
Adityanath is contesting the Assembly polls from his home turf Gorakhpur which has long been a BJP bastion. Akhilesh Yadav has also chosen to contest polls from SP stronghold Karhal constituency in Mainpuri.
Elections for 403 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will commence from February 10, in seven phases. The second phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections will be held on February 14, the third phase on February 20, the fourth phase on February 23, the fifth phase on February 27, the sixth phase on March 3 and the seventh and the last phase will be conducted on March 7.
The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
On January 25, Akhilesh Yadav said that he is not perturbed by the personal attacks on him by BJP leaders, who are constantly accusing him of promoting “Yadav-vad, parivar-vaad and mafia-vaad” (rule by the Yadavs, the family, and the mafia). Speaking to HT, Akhilesh Yadav also said that the BJP is trying to "divert public attention from pertinent issues such as price rise, unemployment, farmers’ problems, and poverty, as they have neither done anything for them nor have an answer [on what they will do]."
