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BJP frustrated over SP-BSP tie-up, says Akhilesh Yadav, skips question on next PM

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav slammed the BJP on Monday, saying its leaders were frustrated and restless after SP and BSP struck an alliance and were making derogatory comments against opposition leaders.

Updated on: Jan 21, 2019, 15:09:22 IST
Hindustan Times, Lucknow | By
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Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav slammed the BJP on Monday, saying its leaders were frustrated and restless after SP and BSP struck an alliance and were making derogatory comments against opposition leaders.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav slammed the BJP on Monday, saying its leaders were frustrated and restless after SP and BSP struck an alliance and were making derogatory comments against opposition leaders. (PTI File Photo)
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav slammed the BJP on Monday, saying its leaders were frustrated and restless after SP and BSP struck an alliance and were making derogatory comments against opposition leaders. (PTI File Photo)

He was criticising comments by BJP MLA Sadhna Singh against BSP supremo Mayawati.

“A member of the party which used to claim that they are the only ones who can promote and protect Indian culture has used such bad language. The same MLA had earlier said things about SP which are available on internet,” he said.

“Look how frustrated and restless they are after the alliance. Look the kind of derogatory statement one of their legislators made against Mayawati ji. This is the kind of language their leaders, right up to the top, speak. How can someone speak like that? They’re frustrated as in last 4.5 years they didn’t do anything,” he said.

“Those who had ‘thonko’ (gun down) policy are now claiming ‘danka’ (fame) of India, that is, the country is getting fame worldwide, whereas statistics show that India ranks high on the number of hungry, unemployed, and the ill,” he said, adding that people will now give reply to the lies and deceit of the BJP.

At a press conference, he welcomed a small backward outfit Pichada Samaj Swabhiman Party (PSSP) into the SP.

PSSP president Dr VK Singh Yadav and its cadre merged with the SP in the presence of Akhilesh and senior leaders in Lucknow.

SP state president Naresh Uttam Patel put SP’s red cap on VK Singh Yadav.

On opposition alliance’s PM candidate, Akhilesh said it would be decided by the people.

“We have a lot of choice. It will be decided collectively after the polls. The nation wants a new PM,” he said and asked if the BJP had a new prime ministerial candidate after the Lok Sabha polls.

“The new PM of the new government will address all the issues the country is facing,” he said.

On the seat sharing between SP and BSP, he said it will be announced soon. On being asked how many seats alliance partner RLD would get, he refused a direct reply and said; “All partners will be happy, such will be the seat sharing.”

Akhilesh also congratulated the Jats for announcing that they won’t support the BJP.

When asked about Yogi Adityanath government’s decision to give pension to seers and sadhvis in the destitute category, Akhilesh quipped, “Sadhu-Sants pension should be Rs 20,000 each.”

  • Pankaj Jaiswal
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Pankaj Jaiswal

    Pankaj Jaiswal is Bureau Chief, Uttar Pradesh. He covers-analyses politics, and assists Hindustan Times reporters across the state. He has 30 years of experience in print media reporting. Based in Lucknow, he started his journalism career at a national English daily in Kanpur after graduating from Christ Church College. He joined Hindustan Times, Lucknow edition, as part of the launch team in 1997. He’s covered everything from rural distress to science, environment, wildlife, and crime. He has travelled extensively in Uttar Pradesh for rural, development, political, and election reporting. His continued interest in rural issues, rural distress, and development journalism has fetched him a handful of prestigious awards and fellowships. Pankaj is a photojournalist too. He clinched the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting—First Prize in 2009 and Third Prize in 2006—for exposing Bundelkhand’s devastating drought and distress: crop failures, farm suicides, migration, debt, and the injustice of meagre compensation cheques between Rs 10 and Rs 20 to farmers by the government from crop loss. He also has been awarded with Hindustan Times internal 'Journalist of the Month' citation over half a dozen times. His relentless reporting in Hindustan Times pulled the Bundelkhand crisis out of obscurity and forced it into the national spotlight, prompting media and government action on one of India’s most neglected regions. Over a decade, he filed hundreds of hard-hitting stories, travelling repeatedly from Lucknow deep into Bundelkhand. He also received the Special Mention KC Kulish International Award 2009. Pankaj also did long-haul political reporting on the most intense political family feud—’The Yadav Family Feud’—between 2016 and 2022.Read More