Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav criticised the expansion of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s council of ministers, saying that the “BJP government in UP is only trying to divert people’s attention from its complete failure to deliver to the people”.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party government has failed on all fronts and now it is in search of an escape route to run away from its responsibilities by ordering frequent reshuffle in the bureaucracy and the police administration. It is a desperate attempt to divert the attention of the people through the cabinet expansion. People are simply fed up with this ‘diversion politics’ of the BJP,” Akhilesh Yadav said in a series of tweets on Wednesday.

Addressing a meeting in Firozabad on Wednesday, the former chief minister of UP also targeted the BJP government at the Centre over abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories. 

He also alleged that the reckless statements by the BJP leaders on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) were creating instability in South Asia region and leading to tension on India-Pakistan border.

“The government might have scrapped Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir but (it) cannot take back PoK as no country can go for a war at this juncture,” he said.

Addressing a gathering after unveiling the statue of former legislator Jhau Lal Yadav at Firozabad on Wednesday, Akhilesh Yadav said that the BJP government had inflicted a huge damage to the nation’s polity and social-political fabric by pursuing its narrow agenda and imposing it on the people.

“The BJP government at the Centre is working for the welfare for a handful of people as they have no policy and programme for the rest of the people of the country who are facing hardships due to slowdown in economy and resultant job loss due to closure of industrial units,” he said.

Attacking the Narendra Modi government over loss of jobs, the SP chief said that the government was doing nothing to address the economic recession in the country due to which companies were shutting down and people were being thrown out of job.

The SP leader also criticised the UP government over deteriorating law and order and on the recent hike in VAT on petrol and diesel.

“The BJP government is least concerned about the common man as its sole agenda is vote bank politics,” the SP chief said.