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Akhilesh backs Rahul’s ‘dalali’ jibe
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday endorsed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s controversial statement that PM Narendra Modi was
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday endorsed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s controversial statement that PM Narendra Modi was playing politics over the “blood of jawans” in the context of the recent cross-border surgical strikes.
Claiming that he enjoyed good relations with Gandhi, Yadav said he must have made the statement after considerable thought.
“Ultimately, the poor are dying. Farmers and their children are dying without knowing what the surgical strikes were all about,” Yadav told mediapersons after giving away cheques of Rs 15 lakh to the families of people who went missing in Muzaffarnagar.
However, the Congress dismissed speculation that Yadav’s statement signalled the launch of an alliance with the ruling party ahead of the UP elections.
“The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have divided the state along caste and religious lines over the last 27 years. There is no question of allying with any party. We are going to form the government on our own,” said party chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.
The Congress also asked Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah to apologise to the nation and the Army for “politicising” the surgical strikes.
Meanwhile, defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday hit back at Rahul Gandhi over his ‘dalali’ remark, saying those who “focused on profiteering” in defence deals fully understood the meaning of the word.
“When I became the minister and looked into it, I realised that there was dalali and scam in submarine deal, then in (AgustaWestland) helicopter there was dalali. There were allegations of dalali in Pilatus training aircraft (deal). After that in Embraer aircraft. Those who only focused on dalali (profiteering) fully understand what the word dalali means.”
