Shivpal, Akhilesh attack Yogi over 'churan' remark

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav on Thursday attacked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over his jibe that his role in the party has been cut down to size and that he is not what he used to be.

Adityanath in his address at a political rally in Mainpuri earlier in the day said, "I feel pity for helpless Shivpal. He is like a person who hears the katha of satyanarayan and then eats churan distributed there."

He said Shivpal used to be the "sipahsalar" of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the late SP patriarch, but his stature has gone down in the party.

"Today his condition is such that he doesn't even get a sofa to sit. Instead, he gets an armrest," he said.

Shivpal Yadav posted a 23-second clip of Adityanath's speech on X and responded to his jibes.

"Wise Chief Minister, after the Satyanarayan katha, not churan but prasad is distributed. Calling prasad churan is an insult to the faith of crores of devotees," he wrote in Hindi.

"As far as the person eating churan (a digestive) is concerned, you should know that the person has corrected the digestion of many people," he added.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav also in a post in Hindi on X responded to Adityanath: "Everything about them is upside down. That is why this time the public is going to throw them out."

He added, "The public is ready to teach BJP the right lesson. The first phase of lecture has been completed and the second lesson will be given tomorrow … by the time the final phase arrives, the public will have treated them completely."