Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, ally Jayant Choudhary at his side, berated Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the ruling BJP on multiple issues today. They also made a prediction for the party, which swept to power in 2017 with 312 of the state's 403 seats. "Looking at anger among the people, BJP can even lose 400 seats. They will be wiped out in the western UP," Akhilesh Yadav said.
The two leaders ripped apart the BJP claims of development, which the ruling party placed front and centre of the coming election. Mr Yadav, who has lately accused the BJP of stealing credit for projects that started during the Samajwadi Party rule, cited a recent headline from Bijnore that has raised many a chuckle in the state.
"The older tradition was -- hit the coconut on the road and the coconut breaks. The new tradition they have started is hit the coconut on ground and the ground must break," he told NDTV, speaking on the sidelines of a rally in Mathura attended by thousands.
Suchi Mausam Chaudhary, the BJP MLA from Bijnor Sadar, was left furious earlier this month at the traditional inauguration when bits of a 7-km road, renovated at a cost of Rs 1.16 crore, came off when struck by a coconut.
Their sharpest barbs were reserved for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
In his address, Mr Yadav had spoken of the BJP "misrule" in terms of jobs, education development and farmers' issues. Asked about his remark that the "Baba (Yogi Adityanath) just sits in Gorakhpur and rings a bell (while all this is happennig)," and how it would be received by the state's Hindu voters, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary spoke up.
"Adityanath is not a symbol of Hindu unity, he can be questioned," Mr Chaudhary said. "This is not an issue about Hindu pride but issues like unemployment. Adityanath said he will give 70 lakh jobs. Today, their own posters say they have given only four lakh jobs," he added.
Akhilesh Yadav had other questions. "The Chief Minister should answer whether the man sitting in the jeep that mowed down farmers (in Lakhimpur Kheri) was the Union Home Minister's son or not… Yogi must answer how many cases were against him that he removed himself after becoming the Chief Minister," he added.