Congress not keen on halting BJP, says Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow: In a reflection of growing distrust among non-BJP parties, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday openly doubted the Congress’ seriousness in stopping the saffron party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from returning to power, claiming that the Grand Old Party is more focused on preparing a ground for winning the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2022.

Reiterating that Uttar Pradesh will give the country a new Prime Minister, Mr Yadav said that the SP and the BSP formed an alliance to stop the communal party and in the process sacrificed seats in national interest, but “the Congress’ agenda in the ongoing parliamentary polls is not to stop the BJP from forming the next government at the Centre. They are working for making the next UP chief minister in 2022 (when the next Assembly polls are due)”.

Mr Yadav’s attack came days after he lashed out at the Congress for its “too big ego”.

The SP president’s remarks assume significance against the backdrop of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi himself asserting that his party will form the government at the Centre and “after the Lok Sabha polls, the next target is (UP) Assembly elections (in 2022) to ensure that the state is at the top in education, health and employment as before”.

At his recent rally in Kanpur rally, the SP chief had sharpened his attack against the Congress, which has been kept out by the SP-BSP-RLD alliance in Uttar Pradesh for Lok Sabha elections.  “Like the BJP, the Congress too believes in threatening political opponents,” he had said.

On Friday, the SP chief dismissed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s prediction that the SP-BSP alliance will crack the moment election results are out on May 23. “What has the BJP got to do with it? Why are they bothered? In UP we are strong and the BJP is nowhere. And this is the ground reality. They are trailing far behind the alliance,” he said.

When asked as to who will be the Prime Minister, if his alliance gets adequate seats, Mr Yadav said, “Unlike the BJP, which has only one face, we have a number of leaders. No one should worry about this.”

About Samajwadi Party’s role at the Centre after the declaration of Lok Sabha results on May 23, Mr Yadav said, “I am not in the race for becoming Prime Minister. But the alliance is going to give new government and new Prime Minister. Appropriate decision is taken at an opportune time. Presently, we are focusing on the campaign and are sure of winning maximum number of seats in the state.”

Attacking Mr Modi, he said, “He is fooling everyone. He should tell has corruption stopped, has black-money stashed abroad returned, how much investment came, why jobs are vanishing. They (BJP) will never talk on this. They are masters in diverting attention of people from core issues.”

Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of 80 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP and its ally, the Apna Dal, bagged 73 seats in 2014 polls.

Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses etc all. Happy reading.