At Ghaziabad rally, Akhilesh tears into BJP, asks where are the jobs

GHAZIABAD: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav slammed the BJP and said its leaders were busy spreading hatred and following the “British policy of divide and rule”.

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Akhilesh said: “He took a dip (in the Kumbh) as if a kid is bathing. We could not see his 56-inch chest. They are spreading lies and distracting us. The BJP spreads hatred and uses the British policy of divide and rule. We saw on TV that they are washing the feet of our Dalit brothers. But in the meantime, they have washed away the jobs of youths.”

Akhilesh was addressing a crowd of over 8,000 party supporters at Ramleela Ground for the SP-BSP alliance candidate, Suresh Bansal. Referring to major infrastructure projects in Ghaziabad, such as the Hindon Elevated Road and the metro line between Dilshad Garden and New Bus Stand, he said most of them had been conceived during the SP regime. “I challenge the BJP to show us any road that can match the Agra-Lucknow expressway, where an aircraft can also land. The elevated six-lane road in Ghaziabad is built on a single pier. People may become fool once and they believe in development,” he said.

The SP chief said going by the kind of response the alliance was getting, “nobody can stop the candidates from winning”. He said the alliance was a confluence of hearts and would bring “mahaparivartan” (change). Launching a scathing attack on CM Yogi Adityanath, he said: “I heard the speech of the chief minister, he is an amazing person. He was in Ghaziabad and talking about smart city. Please tell me how smart Ghaziabad has become. They showed us a dream of Swachh Bharat and took up brooms. Are the slums clean?”

On the BJP’s manifesto, which was released on Monday, Akhilesh urged the people to see for themselves how many roads and flyovers had been built under the current government, whether power tariffs were lowered or if health infrastructure had improved. “Earlier, the BJP had come as chaiwalas and asked youths to stop searching for jobs and start the business of frying pakoras. Now, they have come as chowkidars,” he said.

He also accused the BJP of doing politics in the name of the Army. “No other government has done that in the past. Navratri is on and we have taken oaths not to speak lies. The BJP should also follow this,” he said.