"Pay Attention To Your State...": Congress On Remarks By Yogi Adityanath

Congress leader Alka Lamba today took a dig at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over his allegation that Congress "compromises border security and creates hurdles in development and welfare schemes".

Alka Lamba in her statement countered the allegations of Yogi saying, "There is an election in Himachal Pradesh. Here the government has failed to manage inflation, unemployment, women's security, apple horticulture farmers, education, health, roads and many more issues including OPS (Old Pension Scheme). No BJP leader has even shown the courage to mention OPS. Yogi is not talking about any issue of Himachal in his campaign meetings because he is aware of Jai Ram Thakur's failure and that is why BJP has sent Yogi to divert attention from the issues of the state."

Congress's national spokesperson Alka Lamba strongly retaliated to the allegations made by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Alka Lamba said, "First of all, Yogi ji should pay attention to his state Uttar Pradesh where law and order is weak. NCR cities like Noida, Ghaziabad and Lucknow are hot spots of the crime world.

"Secondly, Yogi ji is saying that terrorism has ended under BJP rule is beyond facts. If it is so, then why Pandits are still not safe in Kashmir under their rule? Why are Kashmiri Pandits shot in broad daylight?" she added.

Adding further Lamba said, "It is a ridiculous thing that whose state president has resigned in the PPE pest purchase scam and under whose rule the police recruitment paper link scam has reached the chief minister's doorstep they are giving the word of ending corruption."

She stated, "The Indian Army has always firmly protected the borders of the country. The people of Himachal are well aware of the valor and golden history of the Indian Army. This is the same army that made Pakistan bow down on its knees during Indira ji's rule and made a separate Bangladesh. In such a situation, Yogi's saying that the country's borders have been secured under Modi's leadership is like insulting the valor and sacrifice of the army.

Lamba in her statement said that the BJP government of five years has failed on every front.

"People have made up their minds for change. The failure of Jai Ram Thakur is well known and for that reason, from PM to Home Minister, Defense Minister and Yogi have to campaign here," she said.

In the third leg of his rallies in the poll-bound state Himachal Pradesh on Monday, Adiyanath on attacked the Congress.

Yogi Adiyanath targeted Congress over Article 370 and said the party believes in "appeasement and vote bank politics".

He said the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi abrogated Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.

"Congress' hand has always been with the mafia -be it drug, animal, mining, land, or forest mafia," he alleged.

Hitting at the then Congress government of Punjab, Yogi Adityanath said that when his government was busy cleaning Uttar Pradesh of mafias and gangsters, "one of the mafia dons fled to Punjab".

"I had to knock the doors of the Supreme Court to bring him back to Uttar Pradesh," he said, in an apparent reference to Mukhtar Ansari.

The elections in the hill state are slated to be held on November 12, whose votes will be counted on December 8.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)