UP Elections- Akhilesh Yadav addressed a joint presser with his Jat ally.
With his Jat ally by his side, Akhilesh Yadav launched an all-out attack against the BJP in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar this evening shortly after alleging the ruling party delayed his arrival from Delhi by halting his chopper.
In a savage swipe, Mr Yadav denied the buzz about a post-poll alliance between the BJP and the Rashtriya Lok Dal's Jayant Choudhary. "Unka niyotaa maan kaun raha hai? Sochiye kaise halaat hain unki ki niyotaa dena pad raha hai. (Who is accepting their invitation? Imagine what condition they're in ... that they're sending invites)."
"A historic SP-RLD win will wipe out the BJP (in UP)," he declared, demonstrating a united front amid a season of crossovers in the state ahead of the February-March polls.
Akhilesh Yadav's sister-in-law Aparna Yadav's switch to the BJP and the exit of several top leaders - including three ministers - from the Yogi Adityanath government to join the Samajwadi Party have been some of the major crossovers in the last few weeks.
The Samajwadi Party chief's remarks come two days after Mr Choudhary tweeted a strong rebuff, dismissing the speculation over shifting loyalties. "The invitation is not for me, give it to those 700 farmer families whose houses you have destroyed!!" he had tweeted, referring to the deaths during the year-long protests against the contentious farm laws that were eventually withdrawn ahead of the state polls.
Sources had earlier said that feelers were sent to the Jat leader by the BJP in an attempt to consolidate the crucial Jat vote of west UP where farmers are a key vote bank.
Akhilesh Yadav this evening yet again targeted the rival party over the farm laws and the clampdown later.
"The BJP brought three black farm laws in force in an undemocratic manner, without any consultations, and tried forcing it on the farmers. But they opposed it and we supported them. We will never allow BJP to force its decisions on anyone in UP. This is the way BJP works. They bring laws and change later on a whim. And we will never let them do that," he said.
Earlier today, Mr Yadav had said his chopper was stopped from flying to UP, calling it "losing BJP's conspiracy". Half an hour later, he tweeted an update laced with sarcasm - "We are ready to take the flight to victory".