Problems In UP Cities Are "Gifts From The BJP": Akhilesh Yadav

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday accused the BJP of corruption and held it responsible for rising problems in the cities as he appealed to people to vote for his party in the state's urban local body polls.

"The polls of urban local bodies are important. Population of the state is increasing and problems in cities are also rising. These problems are gifts from the BJP as it ruled in the cities for a long time. Mayors in cities were from the BJP, be it Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra or Varanasi," Mr Yadav told reporters.

The Samajwadi Party's mayoral candidate for Lucknow Vandana Mishra was also present on the occasion.

Mr Yadav alleged that the BJP talked of "triple-engine" government and even though the party was in power at the Centre, state and the urban bodies, "cities did not become smart".

"There were complaints of corruption in Ayodhya," he said, adding the BJP mayor's name came up in a land scam case and was denied a ticket this time.

In Shahjahanpur, the BJP does not even have candidates, Mr Yadav said. He was referring to the Samajwadi Party's mayoral candidate from Shahjahanpur, Archana Verma, joining the BJP and being declared as its mayoral candidate from the seat.