The UP deputy chief minister said the previous Samajwadi regime encouraged goons. (File)
Downplaying Samajwadi Party's claims that it was going to form the government in Uttar Pradesh, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Sunday said its chief Akhilesh Yadav was daydreaming and that the BJP wave was evident.
"Just like 2017, the BJP will form the government in 2022. Lotus will bloom in all the nine Assembly constituencies of Bareilly and the BJP will win over 300 seats across the state to form the government," Mr Maurya told reporters at the BJP office in UP's Bareilly.
Referring to a popular television show of the late 1980s to take a dig at Mr Yadav, Mr Maurya said, "He is dreaming 'Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne'. His government encouraged goons and mafia. But in the current Yogi Adityanath government, the mafia is fleeing from the state. The BJP will unfurl its flag once again."
He said his party had been commanding great support from the public because of the way the "double-engine government" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre and Yogi Adityanath in the state functioned.
"They (SP) say they work for the development of all (sections of the society), but their character will not change," Mr Maurya said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)