The war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) in the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh polls went up a notch with Amit Shah claiming that “Akhilesh and Jayant will stay together only till counting of votes.”
The latest comments by Shah, who was campaigning in western Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district over the weekend, come in the backdrop of Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Jayant Chaudhary dismissing an invitation of the BJP. The SP and RLD are in a pre-poll alliance.
"Who is accepting their invitation? Imagine what condition they are in that they are compelled to invite?" Chaudhary had said earlier.
The RLD is currently buoyed by a chance of gaining prominence by the farmers’ movement and protests against the BJP by the farmer community, most of whom are from the Jat community from Western UP.
In 2017, the BJP won 83 of the 108 seats in the western region, but a repeat performance is doubted due to a change of sentiments among farmers.
However, Shah claimed that even if the RLD performs well, it will eventually be booted out by the SP.
"Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhary are together only till counting. If their (SP) government is formed, then Azam Khan will sit (in their government) and Jayant bhai will be out. Their candidates' list can say what will happen after elections," Home Minister Amit Shah was quoted as saying, in a report by NDTV.
Shah also challenged Akhilesh Yadav, with the publication quoting him as saying, "Akhilesh babu is not even ashamed; yesterday he said here that the law and order situation is not good Akhilesh babu, today I have come to give our figures in a public programme, if you have the courage, declare the figures of your regime in a press conference tomorrow."
Shah, however, dismissed other parties. "When behenji's (BSP’s Mayawati) party used to come, she used to talk about one caste. When the Congress party came, they used to talk about family," he was quoted as saying.
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