Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday slammed the BJP over NCP MLAs joining the Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra and accused it of "weakening democracy and insulting people's mandate". He asked whether splitting other parties "does not amount to corruption" and claimed that the BJP's "experiments" will fail.
Two days ago, senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar led a vertical split in the party to become deputy chief minister in the one-year-old Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra, shocking his uncle Sharad Pawar, who founded the outfit 24 years ago after quitting the Congress. Besides Ajit Pawar, eight other NCP MLAs, including Chhagan Bhujbal and Hasan Mushrif, were sworn in as ministers in the Shinde cabinet.
"The BJP has been doing these kind of experiments. It has always been saying that corruption will end. Does breaking parties not amount to corruption? What kind of benefits do they give to other party MLAs to bring them over their side? Is this not corruption?" Yadav asked.
"By such acts, the BJP always tries to weaken democracy and insult the mandate given by the people. No matter how many experiments the BJP does, these will not be successful. The BJP's problems are increasing and in 2024 (general elections) there will be a historic victory for the SP and its allies," he said during a visit to Ayodhya.
The Samajwadi Party chief exhorted the party workers to be prepared for a fight with the BJP in next year's Lok Sabha elections. "Everyone must be ready to compete with the BJP," Yadav said during an informal meeting with SP workers at the residence of senior leader Haji Firoz Khan Gabbar here.
Asked if Varun Gandhi, who is currently a BJP MP, will contest on an SP ticket in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, he said, "The Samajwadi Party will field a candidate who can give a tough fight."
Taking a dig at the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, he said the Yogi Adityanath dispensation was showing people dreams of turning the state into a billion-dollar economy while it has not been able to remove stray cattle from roads. To a question if he will visit Ram Mandir once it is completed, he asked "Why shouldn't we come for Darshan at Ram Mandir?"
