Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday lashed out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for his remark that the “country needs Ramrajya not Samajwad”, terming it against the very essence of the Constitution.

In a tweet, the SP chief said, “Mukhiyaji has said the country does not need socialism this means: he is against the essence of the Constitution. He is not with the poor but with the rich capitalists. He works for some special people and not for society. He is against steps towards ensuring social equality of neglected sections.”

The SP chief was reacting to the remarks made by the Chief Minister while speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor’s address in the Assembly on Wednesday. The Chief minister had stated, “The country needs Ramrajya (rule of Ram) not Samajwad (socialism).”

Without naming former Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh, Mr. Adityanath had also recalled his controversial “boys will be boys” remark and mocked the Opposition for speaking on women empowerment.

While speaking against capital punishment for rape during a rally in 2014, Mr. Singh had sparked an outrage by saying “ladke, ladke hain... galti ho jati hai (boys will be boys... they commit mistakes).”