Akhilesh Yadav at a UP rally today mimicked PM Modi's style of crowd engagememnt in a comeback.
Highlights
- PM Modi attacked Akhilesh government in campaign rally yesterday
- PM accused government of discrimination, said UP doesn't get electricity
- Akhilesh counters barb, asks doesn't Varanasi have 24-hour electricity
Akhilesh Yadav's outrageous dig today, apparently at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Gujarat, featured Amitabh Bachchan and donkeys. "I request the century's biggest superstar, please don't do any ad campaigns for Gujarat's
gadhas (donkeys)," the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said while campaigning in Raebareli.
Without taking names, Mr Yadav referred to an ad in which Mr Bachchan, popularly known as "Big B", gives viewers a glimpse of the "Wild Ass Sanctuary" near Ahmedabad. The 74-year-old has done a series of ads like this as brand ambassador of Gujarat tourism.
"We will tell the
mahanayak, don't campaign for donkeys. Have you ever heard of campaigning for donkeys? Gujarat's people are doing campaigns for donkeys...then they accuse me of working only for
kabristan (graveyard...)," said the 43-year-old.
This image of Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav ducking to avoid wires during a 'rath yatra' was shared widely on social media.
The latest comment reflects increasingly pungent discourse in Uttar Pradesh as various parties race to the finish line of the state polls described by many as the semi-final before the 2019 national election.
The Chief Minister's "donkey" jibe was a direct response to
PM Modi's comments at a rally in Fatehpur yesterday. "If a village has a
kabristan (graveyard), it should also have a
shamshaan ghat (cremation ground). If there's electricity on Ramzan, it should also be there on Diwali. There must be
bijli (power) both on Eid and Holi... There should be no discrimination," said the Prime Minister, accusing the ruling Samajwadi Party of religious discrimination.
In Raebareli, Akhilesh Yadav retorted, "You revere Ganga
maiyya (river Ganga). Why don't you swear on the Ganga and tell us...is the Samajwadi Party government giving 24-hour electricity in Varanasi or not?"
Varanasi is PM Modi's parliamentary constituency in UP.