I will benefit from BSP chief’s experience: Akhilesh
LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party (SP) national president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said he would take the benefit of age and experience of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati and will show a large heart when the occasion arrives.
“I will take the benefit of age and experience and show a large heart when the time comes,” he said, referring to Mayawati without naming her, while participating in a discussion on the state budget in the Vidhan Parishad.
His remark is being seen in the context of Mayawati’s statement, wherein she had said that Akhilesh lacked political experience. “Had Akhilesh Yadav been mature enough, he would have focused on the victory of the BSP candidate more than his own candidate,” she said at a press conference a few days ago in reference to the defeat of BSP’s Rajya Sabha candidate Bhim Rao Ambedkar.
Akhilesh said the BJP was upset over the BJP-SP joining hands and was trying its best to drive a wedge between the two partners. But the alliance was going to stay, he said, He said the results of Phulpur and Gorakhpur bypolls reflected the general mood in the country.
In his speech, he sought to put the Yogi Adityanath government in the dock over various issues, right from loan waver to encounters. He said loan waver was a sham because many farmers committed suicide in the state — 27 in Mahoba district alone — because their debts were not redeemed despite the promise.
Raising questions over the police encounters, Akhilesh said strengthening of the Dial 100 service and not the elimination of criminals would instill a sense of security in the public. The Dial 100 service was one of the biggest achievements of his government, he said. He also criticised government’s ant-copying campaign because of which, he said, students and teachers were being harassed. “Think of introducing open book exams using technology, many countries are doing this,” he suggested.
I AM ALREADY A MEMBER OF CBI CLUB
Waving a newspaper that said the CBI may inquire into the property amassed by Akhilesh Yadav, he said, “Whoever comes with the BJP become pure but anyone who challenges them has to face CBI.”
“But I am already member of CBI club,” he added.
He also took a dig at the controversy over the theft of data. “It appears that the company stole our party’s data also because of which we lost the election in 2017,” he said in a lighter vein.
‘HOPE DEPUTY PREFIX IS TAKEN AWAY FROM YOUR NAME’
As soon as he rose to speak, Ahilesh Yadav took a potshot at leader of house and deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma. “I never saw you as happy as today.” Giving the reason, Yadav added, “This is because both the chief minister and the deputy chief minister lost. You alone remain safe.” The reference was to BJP’s defeat in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bypolls.
“But I wish from the bottom of my heart that the prefix deputy is taken away from your designation,” he said even as Sharma smiled in embarrassment. Ahkhilesh repeated the same thing around a dozen times, intermittently heaping praise on the deputy chief minister. Each time he said this, the members burst into laugher with Sharma trying to intervene in between.
‘CM ATE FOUR LADDOOS’
Continuing to speak in a lighter vein, Akhilesh said chief minister Yogi Adityanath was so excited at the victory of the BJP’s ninth candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls that he ate four laddoos during the Navratri fast.
“What kind of fast was this?” he asked and added, “This way, I can remain on fast for years together.”
Akhilesh Yadav took serious offence when BJP MLC Devendra Pratap Singh interrupted him.
“Do not allow such unmannerly people to sit beside you,” he told leader of the house Dinesh Sharma. As Singh said something, all the SP members, wearing red caps, rose from their seat, yelling at Singh. “Do not shout nor raise a finger,” a visibly angry Akhilesh warned.
Devendra Pratap Singh was earlier in SP before he turned rebel and joined the BJP last year.