Will Remain A "Samajwadi" And Akhilesh Yadav's Uncle: Shivpal Yadav

Taking a dig at the "excessive concern" Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath shows in him, senior Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav on Friday asserted he was a "diehard samajwadi (socialist)" and would remain party chief Akhilesh Yadav's uncle.

Shivpal Singh's remarks are a response to Adityanath jibes that Akhilesh does not respect his uncle and that Shivpal Singh has not got his due in Samajwadi Party (SP). The chief minister has referred to Shivpal as "chachu" in his remarks.

Speaking in the budget session of the UP assembly, Shivpal Singh said he was firmly with the PDA – a term used by SP leaders referring to people belonging to the backward classes ('pichde' in Hindi), Dalits and minorities ('alpsankhyak').

"The Leader of the House (the CM) sometimes gets worried about me. It seems that he is doing "chacha pe charcha," Shivpal Singh said.

"Speaker, I would like to say through you that chacha was, is and will remain with the PDA. I was, is and will remain a diehard socialist. I was, is and will always be Akhilesh's uncle," he added.

Yogi Adityanath was not present during Shivpal Yadav's address to the House but Akhilesh Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition, was present and was smiling during his uncle's remarks.

The uncle-nephew duo have had several feuds from 2016 onwards till the Mainpuri by-election. Ahead of the by-election, Shivpal merged his party, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), with the SP and came out in strong support of Akhilesh Yadav.

Terming this year's budget presented by the finance minister as "fraud", Shivpal said the budget should have been beneficial, inclusive and effective.

On the inauguration of the Ram Temple, Shivpal said, "It is a good thing that the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram was organised but the Ram temple is just a stopover." "The goal should be to establish Ram rajya. I wish you would have presented a budget that that a vision for converting the entire state into Ayodhya's Ram rajya." This government has completely failed in bringing real Ram rajya. "Socialism ('samajwad') is Ram rajya. Ram rajya cannot come without socialism," he said.

Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna has presented a budget in the state assembly with an outlay of Rs 7.36 lakh crore in the Assembly on Monday for the financial year 2024-25.

Members of the ruling party said that in the previous governments, Uttar Pradesh was in the category of "Bimaru" (sick) states, but the "double-engine" government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has changed it.

Praising the budget, senior BJP leader Anupama Jaiswal said that the state government has taken decisions in the interest of farmers by realising the vision of 'antyodaya'.

"This budget is not a fraud, there is only an opportunity in it," she said.

BJP's Piyush Ranjan Nishad said it is a public welfare budget that will fulfil the dreams of poor farmers, youth and women. Nishad said PM Modi and CM Adityanath have changed the face of the state.

Senior SP leader Nawab Iqbal Mahmood, in reference to the Ram Mandir, said that the credit for the temple does not belong to any individual but to the Supreme Court.

He asked the BJP to "stop the politics of hatred" and that its politics "works only because the more they oppose the minorities, the more their votes will increase".

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