BJP using Army's surgical strike to mislead people: Akhilesh Yadav

Lashing out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for claiming that the state has five chief ministers, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav asked the party to find at least one acceptable leader who could be projected as its chief ministerial face in the upcoming Assembly elections.

"These BJP people had been saying all along that there are five chief ministers in the Samajwadi Party government. I want to tell them to at least find out one (leader for the post) and bring him in front of the people," Yadav said.

Alleging that BJP does not have strength of its own, Yadav questioned what the party had done in over two years since it came to power at the Centre and claimed that even the AIIMS is coming up in the state because the land for it was made available by the state government.

Akhilesh termed the BJP members as "hoshiyar, chamatkari and chalu" and recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising the slogan of 'Jai Sree Ram' at the recent Dusherra function in Lucknow. "What slogan was raised by the Prime Minister during the Dusherra function...earlier they used to chant 'Bharat mata ki jai' but now you have forgotten Bharat Mata...which path (do) they want the country to tread," he said.

"You (BJP) are discussing surgical strikes... even senior people had known what it was... I have studied in a military school my classmates are serving at the borders... I asked them and they told me that surgical strikes have been taking place earlier also... this very work is what army does... but (see) how BJP people are misleading the country", Yadav said.

Referring to the upcoming elections, Yadav said people have many options before them and charged the BSP government with wasting public money during its government. "The BSP government installed elephants in this very city...in the past nine years they have remained static...all the funds were wasted and they claim they will form the government," he said.

Citing the various development works undertaken by his government, he said it had taken the state on the path of development and prosperity and claimed 'work speaks for itself'. No one can compete with the SP government as far as its works are concerned, he stressed.

--PTI