BJP gives free ration only when it needs votes, says SP chief Akhilesh Yadav
Mathura, (PTI): The BJP only provides free ration when it wants people's votes and the benefits vanish as soon as elections are over, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Monday.
Referring to the BJP's defeat in the Mainpuri parliamentary and the Khatauli assembly bypolls, he said the saffron party faced public anger.
"When the BJP wants people's votes, it gives free ration, oil, gram, jaggery and salt. But when it gets the votes, it stops giving free ration," he told reporters.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) chief was in Mathura with wife Dimple Yadav and their children to pay obeisance at the Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan on Sunday evening. This was their first visit to the temple after Dimple Yadav's victory in the Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypoll.
Launching a scathing attack at the BJP, he alleged that barring "some rich friends", it wanted to make everyone poor and was working on these policies.
Akhilesh Yadav made a 'swastik' sign near the temple and prayed for the wellbeing, progress, development, prosperity and peace for the state and in the country.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister called the BJP a party that spread hatred and its politics hinged on making people fight each other.
Attacking the saffron party over its promise of giving jobs to the youth, the SP chief said BJP leaders made youths see big dreams before the elections but now the youths were going astray and were not getting jobs.
The SP retained the high-profile Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat in the recently concluded bypolls while the BJP wrested the Rampur Sadar assembly seat from it. The BJP, however, lost the Khatauli segment to SP ally Rashtriya Lok Dal.
Akhilesh Yadav also attacked the BJP for its "intense dishonesty" in Rampur Sadar.
"The BJP resorted to intense dishonesty in Rampur and managed the poll results in its favour," he said.
BJP candidate Akash Saxena defeated the SP's Asim Raza in Rampur Sadar seat, where bypolls were necessitated by the disqualification of Azam Khan.
This was the BJP's maiden victory in the Muslim-dominated Rampur Sadar segment, which had elected Azam Khan 10 times in a row.
Taking a swipe at BSP chief Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav said she had deviated from the path of Dalit icon Kanshiram.
He also said he and uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav would fight future elections together and register a more effective win.
"You will see that uncle-nephew will fight elections unitedly and win the polls in a more effective manner," he said when asked about Shivpal Yadav.
The "chacha-bhatija" (uncle and nephew) duo reunited to ensure Dimple Yadav's victory in Mainpuri, which was vacated following the death of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. PTI NAV COR SNS
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Kejriwal resorting to 'vendetta politics', says BJP after MP Sandeep Pathak booked
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Saturday accused Aam Aadmi Party's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of vendetta politics after Punjab Police booked Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, who recently defected to the BJP.
In an X post, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that Kejriwal is misusing the Punjab Police to settle political scores, and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has become a party to it.
"Two FIRs have been filed against Sandeep Pathak, who until recently was in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a Rajya Sabha MP and general secretary (organisation). What is baffling is the shameless, brazen vendetta politics being pursued by Arvind Kejriwal, with Bhagwant Mann complicit in it," Poonawalla said.
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"It is clear this has been done out of vendetta politics by Kejriwal, who is extremely vengeful and vindictive, and misuses the Punjab Police to pursue such political vendetta," he alleged.
Questioning the timing of the FIRs, Poonawalla said, "If these cases existed from the beginning, why were FIRs not filed earlier? If he was corrupt, why was he kept in the party for so long, especially when he was the general secretary (organisation)? Has any new material surfaced in the last few days, or has the alleged corruption occurred only now?"
He alleged that Kejriwal has an "old habit" of targeting political opponents and dissenters.
"We have seen how he has used the police against rivals, including Congress leaders. This is his old habit," Poonawalla said, referring to the withdrawal of Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh's security.
Poonawalla claimed that several leaders who had left AAP over the years, including Yogendra Yadav, Mayank Gandhi, Ashish Khetan, Ashutosh and Alka Lamba, were "hounded".
He accused the party of failing to introspect.
"Instead of introspecting on how they have changed -- from Anna to Lalu, from Lokpal to corruption -- they are indulging in vendetta politics, trying to victimise people using the strong arm of the law. This reflects an Emergency-like mindset and a dictatorial, Hitlerian mindset," he said.
According to sources, two FIRs have been lodged against Pathak under non-bailable sections.
No further details about the FIRs have been disclosed yet.
On April 24, the AAP suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs quit, alleging that Arvind Kejriwal's party has strayed from its principles, values and core morals.
Of the seven MPs -- who were Pathak, Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal -- six were from Punjab.
Later, Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan officially accepted their merger with the BJP, reducing AAP's strength in the Upper House to three.
