Yogi’s former aide joins SP, vows to be Akhilesh’s Hanuman
LUCKNOW: Former Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) chief Sunil Singh, who was once considered close to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, on Saturday joined the Samajwadi Party with hundreds of his supporters in Lucknow in the presence of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav
Singh, who was ousted from the HYV ahead of the 2017 assembly elections, had become increasingly bitter after parting ways with his ex-boss Yogi Adityanath.
At his induction function on Saturday he merged his Hindu Yuva Vahini (Bharat), which he had floated after leaving the HYV, into the Samajwadi Party and took the occasion to lash out at Yogi.
“The BJP and Yogi Adityanath misled and deceived the youth with saffron flags and saffron robes,” he said.
Singh had once likened his relationship with Yogi to that of Ram and Hanuman’s. On Saturday he replaced Yogi with Akhilesh Yadav in that relationship with a dramatic announcement, “Akhilesh Yadav ji you pick up the grand bow to annihilate the BJP government and I will be with you like Hanuman.” Singh said while giving Akhilesh a mace, often identified with Hanuman.
Ahead of the 2017 UP assembly elections, Sunil wanted a BJP ticket to contest the polls from one of the Gorakhpur seats. But the BJP denied him a ticket. The relationship soured between Yogi and Sunil over the issue and he turned a rebel. Eventually, Yogi expelled him from HYV, which he (Yogi) had founded in 2002 to pro
mote “Hindutva and nationalism.”
Singh had earlier allegedly threatened some HYV leaders over which the police booked him under National Security Act (NSA) in 2018 and he spent some time in jail. Singh, who is from Gorakhpur, eventually floated a parallel Hindu Yuva Vahini (Bharat).
On Saturday, Singh pledged to make Akhilesh the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 2022.
Speaking on the occasion, Akhilesh said: “I welcome Sunil Singh into the party. And I hope my neighbour (Yogi) has heard what Sunil Singh just said in a loud voice. (Samajwadi Party office is in the neighbourhood of CM’s residence).”
The SP chief claimed that the countdown to Yogi’s exit had begun and his time was running out.
“The government had sent him (Sunil Singh) to jail. Now, these Hindu Vahini people will send him (Yogi) back to where he came from,” he said.
“Now, I have more time. He has less. His time is running out. And more and more people are waiting to join Samajwadi Party,” Akhilesh claimed.
A BJP leader, reacting to Sunil Singh’s induction into Samajwadi Party, said: “This is the same Sunil Singh who once praised Nathuram Godse as an icon and does not consider Mahatma Gandhi as father of the nation. He is the one who used to spew venom against Muslims. And today Akhilesh Yadav inducted him into his party.”