BJP terms Akhilesh, Mayawati's proposed K'taka visit 'political tourism'

Taking a dig at the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, spokesperson of the BJP's Uttar Pradesh unit Rakesh Tripathi has termed the proposed visits of Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati to poll-bound Karnataka as "political tourism".

He, however, claimed that BJP workers and people in Karnataka want to have a glimpse of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his campaigning in different pollbound states of the country is benefiting the party.

Alleging that both the SP and the BSP "thrive on caste politics", Tripathi said, "The election tours made to Karnataka by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati are simply political tourism."

"The main base and origin of both these parties is Uttar Pradesh. But, in this state their condition is miserable. Both of them are facing the worst times since their inception. They do not have any party organisation, base and mandate in Karnataka," he was quoted as saying in a statement.

The state BJP spokesperson claimed that the founding members of the BSP were deserting the party which is finding it tough to preserve its status as a national party.

Hitting out at the Samajwadi party, Tripathi said, "Ever since Akhilesh Yadav replaced his father (Mulayam Singh Yadav) as the SP president, the party has been weakened."

"The SP is a regional party. In Karnataka, it does not have any organisational structure. The tour of Akhilesh Yadav to Karnataka will prove to be a flop show like the one to Gujarat," the BJP leader said.

He claimed that Yogi Adityanath influenced the entire country after becoming the chief minister.

"This is the reason why there has been a continuous demand from various pollbound states for Adityanath to campaign for BJP candidates," Tripathi said.

Polling in Karnataka will be held in a single phase on May 12 for all the 224 Assembly seats in the Congressruled state, including 36 reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 15 for the Scheduled Tribes.