Yogi Adityanath likens Akhilesh Yadav to Aurangzeb who 'jailed his father'

Lucknow: In a scathing attack on Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Friday likened him to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb who had jailed his father.

“There is a character in history who kept his father in jail. This is the reason why no Muslim names his son Aurangzeb,” he said.

“I think something like this has happened with the Samajwadi Party. History repeats itself, and the repetition is taking place,” the chief minister said at the 'Nishad Sammelan' in Lucknow.

Adityanath did not directly name the SP leader but made clear that he was alluding to the manner in which Akhilesh Yadav had edged out his father Mulayam Singh Yadav to take charge of the party.

“Somebody who could not remain loyal to his father and uncle is now talking about connecting with you,” he said.

Adityanath's remarks come amid fresh trouble in the first family of the Samajwadi Party. Akhilesh Yadav's estranged uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav has just floated his separate Samajwadi Secular Morcha and announced plans to contest all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the 2019 elections.

Shivpal Yadav has said he will unite all sidelined leaders and workers in the party, and accused the SP leadership of ignoring him for the past one and a half years. He has also accused the party leadership of not giving enough respect to SP founder and his brother Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Akhilesh Yadav had on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of igniting caste politics in the state and said Adityanath's days as chief minister were numbered. He said the monk-turned-CM will not remain on the post in 2019.

Yadav blamed Adityanath for creating a “mess" in the state with caste politics. "After stoking communal passions, now these people are whipping up passions on the reservation issue," he had said.

Uttar Pradesh was among the northern states which saw protests Thursday by anti-reservations groups.