© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The war of words between Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and the Uttar Pradesh Congress intensified on Friday, with Akhilesh saying: “If the Congress behaves like this, who will stand with them?”
A day after accusing its INDIA ally of “cheating” the SP, following failed talks for the Madhya Pradesh elections, Akhilesh said: “Only during the MP polls did I find out that the INDIA alliance is only for the Lok Sabha. The question is about credibility. If the Congress behaves like this, who will stand with them?… The BJP is a big, well-organised party. In a fight against them, there shouldn’t be any confusion in the Opposition ranks. Or you will lose.”
Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai, who was described as “chirkut (small fry)” by Akhilesh on Thursday, hit back saying little could be expected of a man who did not respect his own father.
The INDIA allies have been sparring after their talks to reach an arrangement for the MP polls fell through, with the SP now declaring candidates for nearly 30 seats. The Congress has questioned the SP decision to field candidates in MP, a state where it is in direct contest with the BJP. The SP, which demanded at least a few constituencies, has said the Congress should expect tit-for-tat treatment in Uttar Pradesh, where the SP is much stronger.
Akhilesh, who was in Shahjahanpur Friday, told reporters: “The Congress should have been clear. If you weren’t going to give seats, you shouldn’t have held talks with us… You should have told us whatever support you needed, and maybe the SP would have stood by you. But they didn’t share any information with us. Hence, the SP is contesting in places where our organisation is strong.”
Akhilesh had also taken a swipe at MP Congress chief Kamal Nath on Thursday. Asked about this, Kamal Nath seemed to dismiss the SP, telling reporters late Thursday: “Arrey bhai chodho Akhilesh ko (Forget about Akhilesh).”
Reacting to Akhilesh remarks that he had no “haisiyat (stature)” to ask the SP to do anything, Ajay Rai Friday said the SP president should show “a big heart” like the Gandhis to be seen on a par with them.
“Jis vyakti ne apne baap ki izzat nahin ki – Mulayam Singh Yadavji ki, hum sab unka samman karte rahe hain aur karte rahenge – jiske maan mein apne baap ke prati samman nahin hai, to hum unki nazar mein kya hain (A person who did not respect his own father – the honorable Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was respected by us and would be in the future too – how can he be expected to show others any consideration)?” said Rai.
The Congress leader claimed that SP leaders also felt humiliated within the party.
Congress MLA Virendra Chaudhary, one of the only two party legislators in UP, came to Rai’s defence, accusing Akhilesh of “ghamand (arrogance)” and “galat samajh (wrong thinking), and wishing him “wisdom”. “Being a national leader, he should have been careful in using such language for the state president of another party,” he told The Indian Express.
“The kind of respect and autonomy that the Congress state president gets, it would be difficult for the SP president to understand it because he (Akhilesh) fails to give the same respect and autonomy to his state president,” Chaudhary said, adding that SP UP chief Naresh Uttam “never gives any statement or speaks in the open”.
In a post on X, Chaudhary hinted it was because the SP state chief was a “Kurmi”, and said the entire state knew this.
Had Akhilesh listened to his own party, Chaudhary added, “he would have become Chief Minister again”.
