SP poster in Lucknow projects Akhilesh Yadav as 'future PM'; BJP calls it 'daydreaming'
SP spokesperson told the media that party leaders and workers want Akhilesh to become the prime ministerial face of the INDIA alliance
As tensions continue to simmer between Congress and Samjawadi party, who are key members of the INDIA bloc, a provocative hoarding featuring Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav as the 'future Prime Minister' of India surfaced outside the party's Lucknow office.
The poster was erected by SP spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan, said news reports. This development comes amid the feud brewing between SP and Congress over their inability to clinch a seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh assembly elections on November 17.
Akhilesh Yadav had said if the grand old party did not want to give it seats in MP, they should have told them earlier. And that if they fight the elections against the BJP with such “confusion in their minds”, the INDIA alliance won't succeed. He also berated the Congress on different platforms for not making their stand clear earlier then the SP would have thought twice about joining the INDIA bloc.
When Fakhrul Hasan was questioned about the poster outside the party office, he told ANI that "Samajwadi Party leaders and workers want Akhilesh Yadav to become the PM of the country...In the INDIA alliance, we want Akhilesh Yadav to become the face of Prime Minister...Anybody can claim but the one who can actually defeat BJP is Samajwadi Party."
He also said that party leaders and workers wanted to express their love and respect towards their leader by celebrating SP leader's birthday, which falls on July 1, multiple times in the year. According to the SP spokesperson, their party leaders and workers are praying Akhilesh Yadav will become the PM of the country and serve the people.
Meanwhile, BJP leader and minister in the Uttar Pradesh government Danish Azad Ansari took a potshot at the SP for “daydreaming”. "There is a saying, 'Mungeri Lal Ke Haseen Sapne'. Nobody can stop anyone from daydreaming,” he said, adding that one should, however, dream according to one's capability.
Ansari felt that people of the country trust PM Modi and the country will definitely elect PM Modi as the PM for the third time," he said.
Akhilesh Yadav's SP is a member of INDIA alliance, which comprises 28 political parties, who have come together to fight the Narendra Modi-led BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The alliance, formed earlier this year, however, has not revealed the identity of its prime ministerial candidate.
However, cracks started appearing in the alliance last week when Congress and Samajwadi Party could not arrive at a seat sharing arrangement for the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls. An angry Yadav on Saturday hit out at the Congress at what he said was a betrayal and said the Congress should make it clear if they want an alliance or not. However, later he also said that a top Congress leader had contacted him and that ‘if that topmost leader is saying something, then I will accept it’.
Yadav, however, did not reveal any name or explained further. "But one thing I want to say is: why did they call us if they did not want an alliance?”, he asked and went on a tirade against the Congress.
Just as the INDIA alliance decided to boycott some TV journalists, they should have come out and said that there would be no alliance at the state level. And that this was only meant for the Lok Sabha polls. “But they have no answers. They should not conspire against us or betray us, just let us know straight,” he said.
