Akhilesh Yadav "will remain a babua (little boy)" all his life, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath says about his main rival, stung by the charge that he delayed the distribution of tablets and smartphones because he can't operate gadgets.
In an interview to news agency PTI, Yogi Adityanath said that the Samajwadi Party chief had no idea he has been using an e-dashboard to monitor government schemes.
Akhilesh Yadav had said recently that the BJP's poll promise in 2017 to distribute laptops and tablets were delayed because Yogi Adityanath - whom he called 'Baba Mukhya Mantri" - didn't know how to operate them.
Calling it a "childish" comment, Yogi Adityanath said: "Akhilesh Yadav will remain a 'babua' throughout his life. Such comments are devoid of sanskar and sanskriti" (value and culture)."
"Babua" is a nickname often used for Akhilesh Yadav, an allusion to his father and Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The Chief Minister said his government had been using IT as part of good governance. "The government has adopted an e-tender procedure to end malpractices during previous governments when middlemen used to swallow larger chunks of the development projects money," he said, apparently referring to his predecessor Akhilesh Yadav.
"Online monitoring helped the government streamline the Public Distribution System and in the effective monitoring of Covid cases," said Yogi Adityanath.
The Uttar Pradesh PDS system is the most transparent in the country because of the use of the e-platform, he asserted.
The chief minister said the state government will continue to distribute one crore tablets among the youth as part of its 2017 poll promise.
The Samajwadi Party has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission on tablets being handed out when the model code of conduct is in operation in Uttar Pradesh.
"Let him cry. We will distribute one crore tablets among the youth and this figure will double to two crores after March 10," the Chief Minister said.
UP has completed three rounds of a seven-phase election; results will be declared on March 10.
The saffron-wearing Yogi Adityanath, who remains the head priest of the iconic Gorakhnath temple in eastern UP, faces a strong challenge from Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party as he seeks a second term in India's most politically vital state.
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