Red-capped people spell ‘red alert’ for UP, says PM
Gorakhpur (UP), Dec. 7: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday equated the red caps worn by Samajwadi Party workers with red beacons that suggest a hunger for power, sounding a red alert against them in the state which chooses its next government early next year.
SP leader Akhilesh Yadav reacted quickly, tweeting that the red caps are a red alert for the BJP as they will oust the party from power.
Modi’s attack on the Opposition party came at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s home turf Gorakhpur, where he inaugurated a mega fertiliser plant and an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), together worth nearly `10,000 crore.
The PM also recalled fertiliser shortages in the past and slammed the previous state governments over delays in payment to farmers by sugar mills.
“Today, the entire UP knows very well that those wearing the red caps are concerned about the red beacon (‘laal batti’) and not bothered about your pain and sorrows,” he said, apparently
referring to the beacon atop cars carrying VIPs.
“The red-cap people want power to commit scams, fill their coffers, indulge in illegal grabbing (of resources) and give complete freedom to the mafia,” he said.
“The red-cap people want to form the government to show favour to terrorists and to free them from jail. Hence, you should remember that those wearing red caps are a red alert for UP, in other words alarm bells.”
He claimed that the previous governments had brought a bad name to UP
by patronising criminals.
But today the mafia is in jail, and the investors are investing in the state with an open heart, he said at the rally, flagging benefits of a double-engine government with the same party in power at the Centre and in the state.
Reacting to Modi’s jibe, SP president Akhilesh Yadav said the red caps are a red alert for the BJP. In a tweet, he also listed price rise, unemployment and the Lakhimpur Kheri violence involving farmers among the other red alerts for the ruling party.
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