Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday claimed that the BJP "conceding" most of its Lok Sabha seats in UP being in the "red zone" was an effect of the power of "red" – a color his party identifies with.
The SP chief remarked in a tweet that referred to recent claims that the BJP has conducted an internal survey which indicated that it will find it hard to retain some of the Lok Sabha seats in the coming election.
"Now, the BJP is saying that most of its seats in Uttar Pradesh are in 'red zone'. So it means that the pro-people party -- the Samajwadi Party -- is showing its colors. SP's 'red power' is the red zone for the BJP," Yadav said in the tweet.
SP workers are often seen in red caps in line with most socialist parties across the world, which identity with red.
UP BJP's spokesperson Manish Shukla said Yadav's remark was nothing more than castles in the air.
"The tweet made by Akhilesh Yadav ji is a classic example of 'Mungeri Lal Ke Haseen Sapne,' and nothing more than that. The SP chief should know that since 2014, the people of UP have rejected the casteist politics of the SP, and have embarked on the path of development," Shukla told PTI.
In December 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi equated the red caps worn by Samajwadi Party workers with red beacons alleging the similarity symbolized SP's hunger for power.
"The red-cap people want the power to commit scams, fill their coffers, indulge in illegal grabbing (of resources) and give complete freedom to the mafia," Modi had said.