UP MLC results just the beginning, BJP now a 'flopshow': Akhilesh's dig at double-engine regime

Lucknow, Oct 30 (IANS) Buoyed by success in the recently held Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections, the Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav took a jibe at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday, suggesting that all the hoopla has gone off and the party has fallen flat, tasting the success of defeat.
 

"MLC results are just the beginning, the BJP has now become a flopshow," the SP supremo said in his first reaction on the elections to the Legislative Council.

The Legislative Council elections for 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh saw a close contest, with BJP winning 6 seats and SP walking away with victory in 5 seats, including some of BJP's strongholds, thus raising an alarm in political circles.

"The BJP has not just lost five seats; it has faced defeat across 50 districts and towns. The message has gone to the public that the SP gained public support but the BJP managed to secure six seats only through deceit and conspiracy," Akhilesh Yadav said in a direct charge aimed at the BJP.

Addressing the media, the SP supremo also accused the BJP of trying to manipulate the MLC polls through deceit and trickery, saying that the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh was resorting to dishonest means to influence the elections.

Akhilesh Yadav made these remarks while speaking to media, after the felicitation ceremony for the newly elected Legislative Council members.

He alleged that had the BJP government not resorted to deceit, his party (SP) would never have managed to sweep those seats as well.

"While the BJP relies on the power of money, the Samajwadi Party counters it with the power of the people," he remarked.

Affirming his party's commitment for the 'PDA' (Pichde, Dalit, Alpsankhyak – Backward classes, Dalits, and Minorities), he said that his party will continue to work with same dedication to strengthen democracy, guided by B.R. Ambedkar's Constitution and seek to establish a system rooted in social justice.

Taking a swipe at Gorakhpur, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's constituency, the SP supremo claimed that desperate attempts made to defeat the Samajwadi Party resulted in downfall of the BJP itself.

Prior to this, Akhilesh Yadav congratulated all the newly elected Legislative Council members from Samajwadi party and extended his gratitude to the voters as well as party workers.

He said that the victory of SP candidates in constituencies like Varanasi and spirited fight in other BJP's bastions sends a clear message that the democracy can't be extinguished despite brazen attempts by the ruling dispensation.

--IANS

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