BJP will win only one seat in UP, says Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav

Azamgarh (UP), May 21 (PTI) Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said the INDIA bloc is getting huge support in Uttar Pradesh and claimed that the BJP will lose all Lok Sabha seats except Varanasi.

Addressing a rally in support of SP's Lalganj candidate Daroga Prasad Saroj, Yadav said, "This time, whatever strategy they (BJP) have made, the people of Uttar Pradesh have made up their mind to wipe them out." Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi as "Kyoto", the former chief minister said, "In the figures and information coming in now, the BJP is in fight in only one seat, that is 'Kyoto', and in all the rest seats the BJP has lost." Prime Minister Modi had assured to make Varanasi like Kyoto city of Japan known for tourism.

Earlier, as Yadav arrived at the venue, the crowd tried to reach near the dais, forcing police personnel to lathicharge to control them even as the SP leaders on the stage appealed to the gathering to maintain peace.

On Monday too, there was a ruckus in Yadav's rally in Sant Kabir Nagar. Before this, in a joint rally at Phulpur (Pragagraj) with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the two leaders had to leave without addressing the gathering after a huge crowd gathered near the dais.

Addressing the rally on Tuesday, the SP chief said when the elections started, the BJP gave "400 paar" slogan, but now the people are raising slogan of "400 haar".

He said this time 140 crore people of the country will ensure that the BJP does not get even 140 seats.

"You must have heard their (BJP leaders) speeches. They are telling the same old story. No one wants to listen to them. The people have made up their mind and our PDA (backward, Dalit, minority) families will defeat the NDA," Yadav said.

Accusing the BJP of lying, he claimed that every promise made by the BJP has turned out to be false.

He also attacked the BJP on Covid vaccine and said that the vaccine has posed a life threat to the people. "They (BJP) even recovered money from the vaccine company that administered the doses to us." Lalganj and Azamgarh seats will go to polls on May 25 in the sixth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. PTI