Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav slammed the Yogi Adityanath government on its claims about development in the state during its 30-month rule.
“During the BJP regime, development has taken place at snail’s pace and the present government has taken the credit of schemes launched by the previous SP government. At present, governance is marked by corruption and slackness as the Yogi government has sacked several ministers and shuffled bureaucrats intermittently,” the former chief minister said.
Akhilesh also challenged the Yogi government to name one project that had been introduced by the present dispensation.
“They took the credit of Lucknow Metro, expressway and other projects that were the brainchild of the previous SP government,” he said.
Addressing media persons soon after Yogi Adityanath held a function to celebrate the BJP government’s 30 months in office on Thursday, Akhilesh did not spare the Narendra Modi government either, alleging that everyone was talking about a 5-trillion dollar economy of India and a one-trillion dollar economy of UP, but no one knows or can explain how it will be achieved.
“The double engine government of UP and Centre is now moving at the pace of a bullock cart and the economy is in tatters,” he said.
The SP chief also targeted the Union government stand on trouble on the Indo-Pakistan border, asking how Pakistan refused to allow the Indian prime minister’s aircraft to fly over its air zone.
“Modi claims that he is a Pathan and Pakistan PM Imran Khan is also a Pathan, I fear that one day we will lose our lives in the fight between two Pathans,” he said.
Replying to a question on investments for the much-hyped defence industrial corridor in UP, the SP chief said, “When the government is purchasing all aircraft and other defence equipment from foreign countries, what will be produced here (in the defence corridor).”
Pooh-poohing the Chief Minister’s claim on improvement in law and order and decrease in crime rate in the state, Akhilesh said, “Everyone knows about the police response on crimes against women. The recent incident of rape of a girl by a BJP leader in Shahjahanpur is a glaring example.”
The SP chief also raked up the issue of lodging of cases against party MP Mohammad Azam Khan in Rampur, and said, “It is surprising that in Rampur, the police are very active in registering cases against an opposition MP but in adjoining Shahjahanpur, the same police are protecting a rapist leader of the ruling party.”
Akhilesh said that the crime figures offered by the Chief Minister at the press conference on Thursday did not match with the Home department’s figures as UP had been served the most notices by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the number of custodial deaths were also the highest in the country.
Hitting out at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Akhilesh said that the people should ask the chief minister why a Yogi, whose duty was to take away pain of the people, was giving pain himself like the recent hike in power tariff.
When asked about the ongoing case on Ayodhya issue in Supreme Court, Akhilesh said that his party as well as founder Mulayam Singh Yadav always advocated for an amicable solution or a decision by the court.
The SP chief also blamed the Centre for the disturbing situation in Kashmir where people were facing severe problems.
“The abrogation of Article 370 in such immature manner is the reason for the problem,” he said.
Concluding his interface with the media, Akhilesh announced that his party would hold a massive state-wide demonstration against power tariff hike and other anti-people acts of the Yogi government on October 1 .