BJP leader Tejasvi Surya's praise on Twitter for what he called "Yogi Ji's expressway" in Uttar Pradesh has drawn a caustic comeback from Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav. "We made it," the former Chief Minister tweeted last night, in response to the video.
On Thursday, Tejasvi Surya tweeted a video, apparently showing off a smooth drive on the Agra-Lucknow highway.
"Lucknow to Kannauj in Yogi ji's Expressway," he wrote on the video, using the hashtag #UPYogiHaiYogi. The BJP MP from Karnataka was campaigning in Uttar Pradesh, where the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP is seeking a second straight term.
Hours later, came Akhilesh Yadav's response.
"One had heard of darkness under a lamp. Looking at the ignorance of BJP leaders, I can say that 'Surya' means darkness under the sun. The Agra-Lucknow expressway that (Tejasvi Surya) is praising to the skies, he should know, that was made by us, not 'unUPYogi (useless) ji'. Don't end up inaugurating this too," he quipped, using his twist on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's wordplay to describe Yogi Adityanath - "UP-Yogi (useful)".
Akhilesh Yadav, who lost power in 2017 to the BJP, has often accused the ruling party of trying to appropriate his projects and snatch credit for the work done by his government.
The 302-km long Agra-Lucknow Expressway was inaugurated by Akhilesh Yadav in 2016. It opened to the public in February 2017.
Tejasvi Surya soon posted a rebuttal. "Instead of trying to be poetic, you should have made more expressways for the people of UP. The people of UP now know who was unUPYogi (useless) between 2012 and 2017. They have decided to send the Samajwadi Party home on the same expressway," he tweeted, along with a comparison of the highway length before 2017 and after.
Supporters of the two parties soon joined in the sparring.
UP has completed two rounds of voting in seven-phase elections. The results will be declared on March 10.
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