BJP leader takes potshots at Akhilesh's 'drama'

BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh today took a jibe at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's "drama of sacking, re-inducting and again sacking ministers.

Allahabad, Oct 24: Claiming that the SP was heading towards "a vertical split", BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh today took a jibe at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's "drama of sacking, re-inducting and again sacking ministers" and said "the buck will stop at his doorstep for the misrule prevailing in the state under his watch".

"The family drama that has erupted in the SP's first family is driving the state's ruling party in the direction of a vertical split.

It is just a matter of time when it becomes a reality. "But, it is surprising how the chief minister, who had been branded by his all-powerful father as the face of the youth, is trying to evade responsibility by hiding behind the ongoing farce," the BJP national secretary and spokesperson said in a statement here.

Singh claimed that Akhilesh was now trying to create an impression that he was not being given a free hand and not being allowed to fulfil his commitment to good governance.

"If such was the case, he should have resigned long back, instead of presiding over a regime that has plunged the largest state in the country into anarchy and misrule and, of late, political instability.

"He must realise that the buck will ultimately stop at his doorstep for the misrule that has been prevailing in the state under his watch," he said. The BJP leader said Akhilesh's "drama of sacking, re-inducting and again sacking ministers he did not like were not going to find any takers.

The farce of the ouster of "tainted" ministers, irrespective of their "closeness" to Akhilesh's father and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav, will not save the chief minister from "suffering the disgrace of ouster" from power in the 2017 Assembly election, he claimed.

Singh was reacting to Akhilesh's outbursts at a meeting convened by Mulayam where he pleaded his case emotionally, only to be countered by SP state unit chief Shivpal who alleged that the chief minister had once "toyed" with the idea of floating a new party and contesting elections in alliance with other outfits.

The BJP leader claimed that the political situation in the state would favour the saffron party since the BSP, seen as the principal challenger to the ruling party, "will not be able to wean away the voters disgusted with the SP as Mayawati's own record, while in power, has been marred by corruption scandals".

"Both these parties have been thriving on caste-based vote-banks. But, the mood of the voters in Uttar Pradesh has changed. They will be voting for good governance in the Assembly election without being distracted by factors like caste or religion. BJP will be their natural choice," Singh claimed.

PTI