Akhilesh Yadav criticised Yogi Adityanath's quick decisions like the police's 'anti-Romeo squads'.
Highlights
- Mulayam Singh Yadav, brother Shivpal skip Samajwadi Party's meeting
- SP's new chief Akhilesh Yadav retorts to Yogi Adityanath's age remark
- Mr Akhilesh criticises 'Anti-Romeo Squads' to combat harassment in UP
Samajwadi Party's national executive meet in Lucknow today was short of a few members. Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, his brother Shivpal Yadav and senior leader Azam Khan gave the meeting a pass, where Mulayam Singh Yadav's son Akhilesh, the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and the new chief of SP single-handedly took on the new BJP government and Yogi Adityanath, the new head of the state government.
A seven-member team of priests had arrived for a vaastu puja at the 5 Kalidas Marg in Lucknow, the Chief Minister's official residence, before its new occupant Mr Adityanath moved in.
"I have no problem with the purification of the house. I just hope they don't scare away the peacocks who had flown in," quipped Mr Yadav at a press conference after the meet.
The Samajwadi Party faced a drubbing in the state elections winning 47 of the 403 seats in alliance with the Congress, spearheaded by its vice president Rahul Gandhi, which got only seven in its worst ever performance in the state.
In the run up to the elections, the Samajwadi Party was caught up in a bitter father-son feud which was dragged up to the Election Commission's office and saw Akhilesh Yadav take over the reins of the party from Mulayam Singh. The erstwhile power figure of the party for decades, Mulayam Singh, who was given the title of party mentor, then decided to pull back.
He openly criticised the Samajwadi-Congress alliance and was virtually absent from the campaign. His brother Shivpal Yadav, whose animosity with Akhilesh almost led the party to a split, also blamed the alliance for the party's defeat.
Even Yogi Adityanath jibed about the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance in his farewell speech in the Parliament.
"I am a year younger than Rahul Gandhi and a year older than Akhilesh Yadav. I came between their jodi (alliance). That is why they failed in UP," Mr Adityanath had said in the Lok Sabha, dubbed as his victory speech in parliament.
In response, Mr Yadav today said, "He (Yogi Adityanath) is a year older but has a lot of catching up to do in terms of work."
He also criticised Mr Adityanath's quick decisions like the police's 'anti-romeo squads' that will check harassment in the state infamous for lawlessness.