Samajwadi Party (SP) president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday over the speculated rift within its Uttar Pradesh unit, as reported by PTI.
In a conversation with reporters in Lucknow, Yadav hinted at internal discord by suggesting that UP’s deputy chief minister, Keshav Prasad Maurya, is merely a “pawn.” Maurya swiftly retaliated, labeling Yadav as a “Congress’ pawn.”
Yadav made his remarks after unveiling a ‘Samvidhan-Manstambh’ at the SP headquarters in Lucknow. Criticizing the current administration, he said, “The government used to claim that there is a zero-tolerance policy, especially on corruption and law and order. But now their leaders themselves are saying we have not seen such corruption in our political life,” referring to a comment by a former state minister who later retracted his statement.
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“Corruption is being exposed because some people have become pawns,” Yadav added, alluding to the rumored infighting within the BJP without explicitly naming anyone. He further quipped, “I heard that ‘Maurya ji mohre hain’ (deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya is a pawn), a password to Delhi’s Wi-Fi,” insinuating Maurya’s close ties with the central BJP leadership, according to PTI.
Responding to Yadav’s comments, Maurya fired back, calling him a “Congress’ pawn” and urging him to focus on preserving his own party. “Samajwadi Party leader Shree Akhilesh Yadav ji, who has become a pawn of the Congress, should focus on saving the SP from extinction rather than harboring misconceptions about the BJP, targeting the backward sections and insulting them,” Maurya wrote on X.
Maurya also projected confidence about the BJP’s future, stating, “The BJP will repeat the 2017 (state assembly poll performance) in 2027. The lotus (the BJP’s poll symbol) has bloomed and will continue to bloom.”
This exchange comes amidst growing speculation about a rift between the Yogi Adityanath-led government and the BJP. The BJP’s underwhelming performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh ignited these rumors. The June 4 results reduced the BJP’s tally in Uttar Pradesh from 62 MPs in 2019 to 33.
As the party began reviewing the election results, discontent among party workers grew, with accusations of being neglected by the state government. During the BJP’s state executive committee meeting in Lucknow on July 14, Maurya emphasized that the “Sangthan” (organization) was, is, and will remain more significant than the “Sarkar” (government). At the same meeting, Yogi Adityanath attributed the party’s poor performance to overconfidence.