Campaigning in the Samajwadi Party (SP)‘s bastion Karhal in UP’s Mainpuri district Thursday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said if the BJP wins the Karhal constituency, the SP will lose the Assembly polls in the entire state.
SP president Akhilesh Yadav is in the fray from Karhal, with the BJP fielding Union minister SP Singh Baghel against him.
Addressing a public meeting, Shah said, “Do you want BJP to form government with win on more than 300 seats?… I give you an idea… the work of 300 seats can be done by one single seat,” adding “Karhal me kamal khila do, poore UP me Sapa ka supda saaf ho jayega (Make BJP win in Karhal and SP will lose across UP).”
Referring to Baghel, Shah called him a prominent leader of backward communities, saying when he was the BJP president he had appointed Baghel as the party’s OBC wing chief.
Shah said despite being a Union minister Baghel entered the fray in Karhal to prevent the state from going into the hands of “goons and mafias”, and to ensure a government for welfare of backwards, Dalits and farmers.
As SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav addressed his first rally this election in Karhal Thursday in support of his son Akhilesh, Shah took a jibe at the SP chief, saying the latter had claimed that he would next come to Karhal on March 10, the votes counting day, but returned only six days after saying it.
“Kadi dhoop me, itni aayu ho gayi hai, Netaji (Mulayam) ko bhi maidan me utarna pada hai. Netaji ko bhi. Agaaz aisa hai to anjaam kya hoga? Kamal jeetega na? (In this scorching sun and in such old age, Netaji too has to come to the field. If the beginning is like this, guess what will be the outcome?), Shah asked.
He said the SP had done nothing for the poor during its rule, charging that its “’S’ stood for Sampatti ikathha karo and ‘P’ for parivarwad chalao (Gather properties and do nepotism)”.
“During SP rule, 45 persons from Akhilesh’s family occupied different positions. They don’t care for caste too. Their concern is for their family only. They don’t work for welfare of backward classes,” he alleged.
Shah also said that Azam Khan (SP leader), and strongmen-politicians Atiq Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari were currently inside jails under the BJP rule, but “they will come out to watch musical shows in Saifai Mahotsav if SP comes to power”, adding “Now you decide, whether they be kept inside jail or not”.
The Home Minister said there were no “bahubalis (strongmen) but only Bajrangbali in UP now”.
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