UP elections: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav rebuts PM Modi’s ‘parivaarwad’ remark

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav intensified his attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, alleging that “those who do not have families, cannot relate to the pain of those with families”.

Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday intensified his attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, alleging that “those who do not have families, cannot relate to the pain of those with families”.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav greets supporters during a ‘Samajwadi Vijay Yatra’ in Banda on Wednesday. PM Modi, during a rally in Purvanchal on October 21, alleged that the SP has moved away from ‘samajwad’ (socialism) to ‘parivaarwad’ (family-run). (PTI)

The statement comes months after PM Modi, during a rally in Purvanchal on October 21, alleged that the SP has moved away from ‘samajwad’ (socialism) to ‘parivaarwad’ (family-run).

“We Samajwadi people, we understand the problems of the poor, we are ‘parivaar waale log’ (family-oriented people) so we understand what it means for a labourer or a farmer to lose their life. We are family-oriented people so we have helped people in the past. ‘Parivaar waale hi parivaar waalon ka dukh samajh sakte hain, jinke paas parivaar nahin hain woh aapka dukh kya samjhenge (those who have families can understand the plight of others with families; how will those who don’t have families understand this),” Yadav said during the fifth leg of his Samajwadi Vijay Rath Yatra in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh.

The former UP CM also took a dig at the ruling BJP’s “Damdaar Sarkar” advertisement across the poll-bound state, asking people if they wanted a “Yogi sarkar” (Yogi government) or a “yogya sarkar” (able government).

“Aap ko Yogi sarkaar chahiye ya yogya sarkaar chahiye (do you need a Yogi government or an able government?). These people have taken back Uttar Pradesh by many years. There is politics of hate and loot... Their progress is only in pictures...”

He further slammed the state government’s recent move to provide tablets and smartphones to students, saying that one cannot expect a chief minister, who “cannot operate laptops and smartphones”, to extend such facilities.

“You are just getting assurances for the last four years and a half from the government for laptops. Now, when elections are approaching, they are promising laptops and tablets. He will not give them. Those who cannot operate a laptop cannot give it to the young people either,” he said.

Yadav also alleged that the Yogi government deliberately leaked the question paper of the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) as it would not be in a position to provide jobs to successful candidates. He promised that the Samajwadi Party will employ those with Basic Teachers Training and Bachelor of Education certification if voted to power.

Yadav said though the people of Bundelkhand extended full support to the BJP in the previous assembly and Lok Sabha polls, the region saw no development.

“The government’s ‘double engine’ failed by the time it reached Bundelkhand,” he said. The SP chief alleged that the government’s incapacity had left its citizens like “orphans” during the worst period of the Covid-19 pandemic a few months back.

Hitting back at Yadav, UP BJP secretary Chandramohan said, “A political party which has never looked beyond its family and caste, and whose political chief openly talks about love for Jinnah, can hardly be deemed trustworthy. Naturally, fearing rejection, the SP leadership appears to have lost the plot altogether. The 2022 UP polls would establish this.”