Akhilesh Yadav is on a three-day visit to poll-bound Madhya Pradesh (File/ANI)
In a fresh attack on Congress, its ally I.N.D.I.A. ally, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused it of being a "cunning" party, accused it of "betraying" him, and urged the people to not vote for its leaders in the upcoming elections.
"Do not vote for the Congress. It is a very cunning party. It is now being supportive of the caste census for the sake of votes. If It has betrayed us, how come the public is significant for it," Akhilesh Yadav said at a public rally in Madhya Pradesh's Jatara constituency.
Akhilesh Yadav also said that by the time the general election of 2024 approaches, the BJP will also come in support of caste-based census because it's the demand of voters.
While addressing the public rally, the SP chief also targeted the present government of Madhya Pradesh over poor infrastructure and women's safety.
Responding to PM Modi's free ration scheme, Mr Yadav said, "If you are getting nothing as ration, then why will you vote for BJP?
He also slammed the BJP by calling it a "loot-tantrik" government.
Akhilesh Yadav is on a three-day visit to poll-bound Madhya Pradesh. The Samajwadi Party has fielded candidates on 72 seats in the upcoming state elections.
Meanwhile, the strained partners in the I.N.D.I.A. bloc have been at loggerheads following the breakdown in seat-sharing talks, with Akhilesh Yadav firing the "chirkut" (small-timer) jibe at Congress' UP chief Ajay Rai.
Upset over the Congress's alleged seat snub to the SP ahead of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, Mr Yadav said, "I want to tell the Congress, don't let your chirkut leaders talk about us."
He said he was clueless whether the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A.) was meant to take on the BJP at the national or state level.
"If Congress didn't want to give us seats (in Madhya Pradesh), they could have said so before. We have decided to go alone in Madhya Pradesh. After (the breakdown in seat-sharing talks in) Madhya Pradesh, I have come to realise that I.N.D.I.A. is meant only for the general elections. But if Congress continues to behave like this, then who will stand with them? If we fight against the BJP with such confusion and doubts in our minds (around the alliance), we will never succeed," he added.
Congress leader Ajay Rai earlier asked the SP to withdraw from Madhya Pradesh in favour of the grand old party as the Akhilesh Yadav-led party, he said, did not have any base there.
"If you (Akhilesh Yadav) are a part of the I.N.D.I.A. alliance, then you will have to see what the situation is in each state. In Madhya Pradesh, there is a fight between Congress and the BJP, so SP should be supportive (of Congress). They had only one MLA and he also joined the BJP," Mr Rai said.
Adding fuel to the ongoing war of words within the grand alliance, Janata Dal-United (JDU) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said that the Congress was "busy with the state assembly elections" in five states and not very keen on taking the I.N.D.I.A. bloc forward. The JDU is also a part of the bloc.
While addressing the Communist Party of India's (CPI) 'BJP Hatao, Desh Bachao' rally in Patna, Nitish Kumar said, "Yes, we constituted an alliance but the work to strengthen it is not actively happening right now. Elections are about to happen in five states and the Congress party is more interested in that it seems. We all were working together to help strengthen the Congress party and take it forward but they don't seem to be as keen. Congress is busy with the assembly polls in five states now."
Nitish Kumar asserted that the bloc won't stop the fight for the country and added that the meetings of the coalition will resume once the elections in five states are over.
Meanwhile, targeting the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, "The INDI-Alliance has disintegrated before it is formed. Now, Nitish Kumar has also said that Congress does not care about other parties. Even before this, one can see, that Congress has worried about Congress and they also worry about families. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi is only busy establishing her son and daughter (Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi)".
Madhya Pradesh 2023 assembly elections are scheduled in a single phase on 17 November 2023. The votes will be counted on 3 December along with the votes of the Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, and Telangana assembly elections.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)