Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday hit out at Opposition leaders and said while BJP leaders were serving the people of Etawah alongside health care workers during the peak of COVID-19 second wave, leaders of other parties were in “home isolation”.

"Addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of several development projects in Etawah, the UP CM Yogi Adityanath asked BJP supporters to ensure the "leaders who sat at home during Covid should be made to remain there" in the elections.

"During covid, I came to your district twice to check arrangements. Our MLAs, with authorities & health workers, were honestly serving people. People from other parties were in home-isolation during Covid. Those who were in home-isolation when people were in crisis should remain in home-isolation during elections too. Who can’t stand with people during a crisis should be replied in a similar manner. People limited to Twitter should be told ‘babua, Twitter will give you votes’," Yogi Adityanath was quoted as saying as news agency ANI.

Yogi Adityanath also hit out at Akhilesh Yadav for frequently accusing the BJP and him of "re-laying foundation stones and inaugurating or re-inaugurating previous SP government projects".

"It happens only in the BJP government that we lay the foundation and then inaugurate the projects. When the intent is not clean, dishonesty and corruption rule. Even if power is attained by deceit, and foundation stones are laid, the public does not leave them in a position to inaugurate the projects."

The Chief Minister also mentioned Ayodhya to attack the SP without directly naming it.

"The sparkle from the lamps in Ayodhya are shining across the world. This is the same Ayodhya where people used to be scared to go earlier and where Ram bhakts (devotees of Ram) were fired at (in 1990 when Akhilesh Yadav's father Mulayam Singh Yadav was the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister)," he said.

The war of words between BJP and SP leaders is already touching a new low with both the parties lashing out at each other, using derogatory languages.

The Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections are due early next year along with Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.

(With inputs from ANI and IANS)