Taking a jibe at the call of mahaparivartan given by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Bharatiya Janata Party state president Mahendra Nath Pandey said the SP advocates change through force while the BJP brings about change through social revolution or by implementing policies to ensure ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’.

“Akhilesh has forcefully grabbed the party which originally belonged to his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SP workers, during Akhilesh raj, grabbed property and changed the ownership. You cannot bring change through ‘goondagardi’,” Pandey said in a statement issued in Lucknow on Thursday.

The BJP’s Uttar Pradesh chief was reacting to the hashtag campaign started by Akhilesh Yadav through his twitter handle in which he advocated removal of the BJP regime, terming it one of the most non-performing governments of India.

Pandey said that change was a slow and systematic process. “The BJP has brought about ‘parivartan’ in the lifestyle of people. The poor, hitherto deprived of basic needs, have been brought into the mainstream through policies. Villages where electricity had not reached in 70 years are now electrified. Children who were dropouts are now going to schools,” he said.

“This is ‘parivartan’ (change) which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has envisioned and the people have experienced in the last five years. People will give a befitting reply to the caste-based parties like Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal in the election by electing over 74 candidates from UP,” the BJP state chief said.