Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Credit: PTI Photo
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Monday termed the Samajwadi Party as "Samaaptwadi Party", and said the SP chief has become a pawn of the Congress.
Maurya also said if Samajwadi Party's relationship with criminals and mafia ends, then the party will come to an end.
Addressing the working committee meeting of the BJP's state unit of the Backward Classes Morcha in Lucknow, Maurya said, "Samajwadi Party is Samaaptwadi Party. The SP chief has become a pawn of the Congress.
"If there is anyone who is the kingpin of criminals, mafia and corrupt people in Uttar Pradesh, then it is Akhilesh Yadav and company. Samajwadi Party's relationship with criminals and mafia has not ended. If Samajwadi Party's relationship with criminals and mafia ends, then Samajwadi Party will itself end," he said.
Maurya urged the audience to gear up for the upcoming assembly byelections in the state and the 2027 UP Assembly elections.
Sharpening his attack on the SP, Maurya alleged that the party has told a lot of lies during the Lok Sabha elections.
"The SP and the Congress spread lies and confusion saying that the BJP will amend the Constitution. Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar has given preference to Dalits, backward classes and the tribal communities in this country and we are not going to end it but make it stronger," Maurya said, and alleged that the SP chief went with those who were going to end it.
The deputy chief minister asked the party which imposed Emergency in the country.
"The SP chief used all his powers to ensure that Narendra Modi from the backward class did not become the prime minister for the third time," Maurya said.
He also claimed that "whatever Congress wants, it gets to say it through Akhilesh (Yadav) ji".
Showering praises on the PM, Maurya said, "Can the honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji, who works day and night to bring prosperity in the lives of the poor and the deprived, be compared with Rahul Gandhi ji?" He claimed that the "Bharatiya Janata Party is the present, the BJP is the future, the BJP believes in Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Samman".
"The OBC community is getting representation everywhere in the BJP, whereas when the Samajwadi Party was in power, it did not give the rights of the backward classes to them," he said.
Urging the BJP's office-bearers and workers to focus on the 2027 UP Assembly elections, Maurya said, "Keeping in mind the mistakes made in 2024 (Lok Sabha elections), we have to start preparing for 2027 (UP Assembly elections) from now itself and work with the aim of achieving historic success.
"We have to contest and win the upcoming assembly byelections with full preparation. We all have to work to make India the number one nation in the world," he said.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said the Congress and the SP together tried to mislead people in the Lok Sabha elections.
In an apparent attack on the Congress, Pathak said, "Those who invoke the Constitution, had changed the very Constitution by imposing Emergency during the tenure of the Congress." "Modi ji has increased the pride of India in the whole world. During the SP rule, the law and order in Uttar Pradesh was very bad. There was jungle Raj in the entire state.
"But today under the BJP government, good governance and rule of law have been established in the state. The BJP is committed to honour and respect the OBC community and uplift them under the leadership of Modi ji," Pathak said.
UP BJP president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary termed the Congress and the SP as "anti-backward" parties.
"These parties are 'parivarvadi' (dynastic) parties, and when these parties came to power, they only promoted corruption and nepotism. Despite being in power for a long term after Independence, the Congress did nothing for the welfare of the people of OBC community.
"The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) was formed under the leadership of Modi ji. During the last 10 years of the central government under the leadership of Modi ji and during the seven years of the Uttar Pradesh government under the leadership of Yogi (Adityanath) ji, unprecedented work has been done for the people of the backward society," Chaudhary said.
He alleged that the entire opposition, including the Congress, is constantly misleading the society with the help of lies and confusion.
"It is the duty of all of us to warn all the people about the lies and confusion being constantly spread by the opposition," he said.