Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, on Friday, took a swipe at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, saying that “far from three-fourth seats in UP assembly the BJP will get only 3-4 seats’”.
He claimed that the UP assembly elections will be 80 versus 20 where the 80 per cent Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Muslims will vote for Samajwadi Party-led coalition and the Bharatiya Janata Party will have to be content with the 20 per cent of the votes.
"Baba mukhya mantri (Adityanath) should engage a maths teacher," the SP president said, referring to the chief minister's "80 Vs 20" remarks.
Yogi Adityanath had recently said that in the Uttar Pradesh elections, while 80 per cent supporters would be on one side, 20 per cent would be on the other, which many thought was alluding to the 20 per cent Muslim population in the state.
Yadav also pooh-poohed the BJP's claim of winning three-fourth seats in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly, saying, and “they meant they will win three or four seats".
“During the 2017 Uttar Pradesh elections, BJP had 'lied' its way to power. There had been constant propaganda to 'slander' the image of SP and the BJP had used the 'politics of hatred' to win in the 2017 elections. This time, however, the people of UP would bring victory to those practising 'positive politics',” Yadav said.
"There has been constant slander propaganda against SP to dub us as mafia. When Netaji Mulayam Singh Yadav invited former US President Bill Clinton for dinner, people wrote against us. But when the US embassy checked, nothing was found against us, and President Clinton came for dinner. There has been a conspiracy to malign SP's image," Akhilesh Yadav said.
He added, "We have formed the government four times, but last time the BJP lied its way to power, they influenced people and spread hatred. This time UP has decided to bring victory to positive politics, and throw out those practising negative politics. This time progressive people will win, the socialist party will win."
So far five BJP MLAs and Apna Dal (Sonelal) legislator Amar Singh Chaudhary have joined the SP in the presence of Akhilesh Yadav.
Former cabinet minister and prominent OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya on Friday joined the Samajwadi Party along with another rebel minister Dharm Singh Saini. BJP MLAs and Apna Dal (Sonelal) legislator Amar Singh Chaudhary also joined the SP in the presence of Akhilesh Yadav.
The five BJP MLAs who joined the SP are Bhagwati Sagar (Bilhaur in Kanpur), Roshanlal Verma (Tilhar in Shahjahanpur), Vinay Shakya (Bidhuna in Auraiya), Brijesh Prajapati (Tindwari in Bahraich) and Mukesh Verma (Shikohabad in Firozabad). Chaudhary is MLA from Shohratgarh.They were given the SP membership at its office.
