Yogi Challenges Akhilesh to Contest from Ayodhya: Akhilesh says PDA is enough to defeat thieves.
Politics in Uttar Pradesh is taking an exciting turn. The Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are not bothered about Rahul’s Chhatron ki Gunj or Kaapi pe Charcha or the CJP protest in Delhi.
For them, what matters is the upcoming UP elections. The CM on Saturday, accepting the challenge thrown by Akhilesh Yadav to contest from Ayodhya, said that he was ready to do so. Addressing a public meeting, Yogi said “Hum Bhi Ayenge, AAP Bhi Ayiye namankan Bhariye”.
He said, “Akhilesh ji, Ayodhya is our sacred abode. I visit Ayodhya repeatedly to ensure that there is no lapse in its development, and the identity of Uttar Pradesh is not tarnished in any way. It is a centre of our faith and devotion. We go there not to contest elections, but for its development.”
“I invite you to file your nomination from Ayodhya, and I will too, and try my luck there once. Let it be decided! The fight should be face-to-face,” he said.
Yadav had on Thursday challenged Adityanath to contest from Ayodhya, claiming that the BJP has been conducting surveys since the SP announced its candidate and has failed to find a suitable nominee for the seat.
Akhilesh reacted, saying that the PDA candidate of SP was enough to defeat Ayodhya thieves. The state BJP said that the SP leader stands exposed. He should either contest from Ayodhya or apologise to Yogi.
Yogi said he goes to Ayodhya which used to get power for three to four hours a day and was littered with heaps of garbage was now making people recall “Treta Yug.” He alleged that the SP government had imposed restrictions on Ramlila performances and erected barricades in Ayodhya, and the same Ayodhya is today writing a new chapter of development while giving shape to a new concept of Ram Rajya,” he said.
At the Balrampur event, Adityanath also accused the SP of misgovernance, protecting criminals and failing to provide employment opportunities to young people.
“The SP is the party that sold the state and left it in a decrepit condition. That is why I say the real meaning of ‘PDA’ is ‘Pradesh Dubao Alliance’ (sink-the-state alliance),” he said, referring to Akhilesh Yadav’s coinage for ‘pichhde, Dalit and alpsankhyak (backward classes, Dalits and minorities)’.
Accusing the opposition party of pursuing dynastic politics, Adityanath said the SP had failed to provide adequate representation to Dalits and backward communities in its Rajya Sabha nominations.