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UP polls: Yogi says bulldozers will get going again after March 10

Vote fearlessly for BJP, don’t be afraid of Samajwadi Party goons, says Yogi Adityanath in Karhal from where Akhilesh Yadav is contesting his first assembly election

Published on: Feb 18, 2022, 23:29:44 IST
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Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday asked voters in Mainpuri district’s Karhal assembly constituency, where Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav is contesting his first assembly election, to vote fearlessly for the BJP in the UP polls.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath at a rally for the UP polls. (FILE PHOTO)
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath at a rally for the UP polls. (FILE PHOTO)

Asking BJP supporters not to be afraid of the “goons of the Samajwadi Party”, Yogi said the bulldozers that were sent for repairs during the election, will be in action again after March 10 once the poll results are declared and the BJP government is formed in Uttar Pradesh.

Yogi Adityanath was in Karhal to address a public meeting on Friday, the last day of the campaign for the third phase of the UP polls to be held on February 20 (Sunday).

He sought votes for BJP candidate and Union minister SP Singh Baghel, who is contesting against Akhilesh Yadav in K

Mainpuri district is a Samajwadi Party stronghold. Karhal is a Yadav-dominated constituency.

In his 30-minute address, Yogi once again asserted, “Garmi’ (heat) of notorious elements, coming out of their burrows during the election, will be subdued after March 10 when the results would be out and the BJP will retain power.”

It was not for first time the chief minister took the garmi jibe which has come under criticism from both the Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary.

Yogi also referred to the alleged attack on Baghel’s convoy on February 15.

“Attack on BJP candidate SP Singh Baghel was a cowardly act, but we know how to tackle such dhamkibaaz (those issuing threats to BJP workers) and (they) were also very active in Kairana and western UP (earlier) but now no such threat exists there. Those in the Samajwadi Party have lost their cool as they are sensing defeat on all the four seats in Mainpuri district, including Karhal,” Yogi Adityanath said.

“After filing his nomination, Samajwadi Party candidate (Akhilesh Yadav) had said that he would only return on the counting day to receive his victory certificate but SP Singh Baghel’s candidature forced him to return on the fifth day to Karhal,” the chief minister claimed.

“The Samajwadi Party candidate is the MP from Azamgarh but never went there during the corona period. Hence, he could not gather the courage to contest from there (Azamgarh) and thought of grabbing the virasat (legacy) of Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) in Karhal, but is now caught nowhere. Aasman se tapke, khujoor mein atke (catch-22 situation) is what Akhilesh Yadav is feeling these days,” observed Yogi.

He said that he was here just to assure the BJP supporters that he is with them.

Yogi then brought up the alleged humiliation meted out to Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia president Shivpal Yadav, former minister and uncle of SP president Akhilesh Yadav.

“I was watching in the media that Shivpal Yadav was not even given a chair while moving with Mulayam Singh Yadav and had to be seated on the arm of a chair in the Samajwadi Party Vijay Rath. Shivpal Yadav was once a trusted lieutenant of Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and had thousands of men following him, but nowadays he (Shivpal Yadav) is becoming a living example of what insult is,” Yogi said.

“Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) is an intelligent and seasoned leader and was aware that Karhal voters have decided to vote for SP Singh Baghel. Hence, he (Mulayam Singh Yadav) asked the voters to vote for the candidate they liked and did not take the name of party candidate Akhilesh Yadav, despite being asked to do so because he was not aware who is the party candidate from Karhal. Such is the sorry state of affairs for Samajwadi Party in the state,” Yogi Adityanath said. Mulayam had addressed his first rally in the current election at Karhal on Wednesday.

Continuing to attack the Samajwadi Party’s Yadav family which has roots in Saifai village of Etawah district, Yogi Adityanath said, “For me, each and every citizen of Uttar Pradesh is my family. On the other hand, the Saifai family has the motto sabka saath but vikas (development) of the Saifai family only. They do not allow any other Yadav to prosper and denied the ticket to Hari Om Yadav, a prominent Yadav leader in Firozabad (Sirsaganj). It was the BJP who gave the ticket to him.”

Yogi Adityanath also said a grand Ram temple will be ready in Ayodhya by 2023, adding that it will be a ‘Rashtra Mandir’ of India.

Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav is the MP from Mainpuri, which has four assembly seats. The SP had won three of these assembly seats in 2017 while the BJP bagged Bhongaon, whose MLA Ram Naresh Agnihotri is a minister in the Yogi cabinet now. Mainpuri goes to polls on February 20.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Karhal SP Singh Baghel on Friday expressed confidence that he was in a winning position.

“I have the blessings of my guru (Mulayam Singh Yadav). In the Mahabharata, the elderly guru was with the Kauravas but Arjun, despite being a Pandava and in opposition, had the blessings of guru Dronacharya because he (Arjun) was on the path of dharma (righteousness). Ultimately, Pandavas won and so will the BJP in this Kurukshetra’ of Mainpuri,” said Baghel, who is the Union minister of state for law and justice. HTC

  • Hemendra Chaturvedi
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Hemendra Chaturvedi

    Hemendra Chaturvedi is based in Agra serving as an Assistant Editor, covering districts of Agra and Aligarh division of western Uttar Pradesh. He has been with HT since 1992 and has completed three decades of association with HT.Read More