Akhilesh Yadav takes dig at PM Modi on bullet train

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the foundation of the bullet train project in Ahmadabad.

“The BJP would target me for launching projects form Sefai but are they not doing the same from Gujarat? Is this not what they accused us of doing?” he asked, adding that it would have been better if the Prime Minister had started the bullet train from Delhi to Kolkata since that would have benefited the maximum people.

Mr Yadav added, “The Prime Minister is sitting on the Sabarmati riverfront with his Japanese counterpart while the Gomti riverfront in Lucknow has been reduced to a picture of neglect.”

The SP president also mounted a veiled attack on UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath who had termed him as a “Twitter leader” at a function hosted by a media house.

“Those who are calling me a Twitter leader were the ones who used to follow me on Twitter earlier. I want to know whether they even know the spelling of Twitter,” he said.

Replying to a question, Mr Yadav said the BJP leaders were better than him because they could set things right by just chanting mantras. “They took away my MLCs by giving them ‘prasad’— I also want to know what kind of ‘prasad’ is this?” he said.

Asked to comment on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s statement on nepotism, Mr Yadav said, “Mr Gandhi spoke in America that also has nepotism. Did the son of a president and the wife of President not contest the polls there?”