Uttar Pradesh: Akhilesh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav exchange Janmashtami special jibes

LUCKNOW: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and his estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav chose the occasion of Janmashtami to exchange barbs on Friday. First, it was the PSL (L) chief Shivpal who used a cryptic letter written to 'Yaduvanshis' (descendants of Lord Krishna) to target his nephew.
"Whenever a Kans humiliates and dethrones his father to occupy his chair, Lord Krishna takes incarnation to punish him," he said in his letter in an obvious reference to the incidents of 2017 when the Yadav family fitnessed a bitter internal feud leading to Akhilesh taking over as the party chief.
Hours later, Akhilesh came up with 'Duryodhan' jibe to state that Hindu epic Mahabharta's primary antagonist lost despite choosing Lord Krishna's entire army for himself and rival (Arjuna) won because they had Lord Krishna himself with them. In political circles, Akhilesh's Duryodhan jibe was being seen as an analogy to target his estranged uncle who chose to vote for NDA candidate in presidential polls despite being an SP MLA.
Hours after Chacha Shivpal's 'Kans' remark, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav came up with 'Duryodhana' jibe to state that Hindu epic Mahabharata's primary antagonist lost despite choosing Lord Krishna's army over the lord himself and the rival (Arjuna) won because they had Krishna on their side.
In the political circles, Akhilesh's 'Duryodhana' remark was being seen as an analogy to target his estranged uncle Shivpal who chose to vote for BJP-led NDA candidate in the presidential polls despite being an SP MLA. The statement is also being interpreted as the SP chief's way of suggesting that eventually the ruling BJP will not be able to help Shivpal in the longer run. Within the SP, there is a growing feeling that Shivpal's 'Kans' remark and his earlier attempts to attack Akhilesh by citing references from Hindu epics were being scripted by the ruling BJP.
"Aap sab log jaante honge ki Duryodhana ne kya manga tha .... poori sena maang li. Lekin jeet usi ki hui jahan pur bhagwan Srikrishna ji khade the .... Yuddh to kai baar hua ... ek yuddh to sab log jaante hain ... aur bhi hue hain (Everyone knows what Duryodhana asked for ... he asked for the entire army. However, the other side, which had Lord Krishna with them, emerged victorious. They fought several battles ... everyone knows about the first one ... there were other battle as well)," said Akhilesh while addressing a gathering of the Yadav community during Janmashtami celebrations at Koteshwar temple in Gwalior.
Akhilesh greeted the residents of Gwalior on Janmashtami and expressed surprise over the large turnout. "I wasn't aware that the Yadav community here is so large (here). Everyone thought Yadavs were in large numbers only in UP," he said, adding that size of the gathering explains why the ruling BJP is not willing to get the caste census done. "Now I understand why they are afraid to get the caste census done. Everyone will know the actual position," he said.
Akhilesh's Gwalior visit is being seen as a precursor to SP's plans to contest assembly elections in MP.