SP, BSP in a fix over Yogi Adityanath move

Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government’s decision to name roads after late Kanshi Ram, Ram Manohar Lohia and Jai Prakash Narain in every district has left the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party in a quandary.

The BSP, till now, had claimed the legacy of late Kanshi Ram while the Samajwadis claimed their right on Lohia and Jai Prakash Narain.

“We do not believe in copyright of great men. We feel that great men must be given their due and we are going to name roads after these three men in all districts of Uttar Pradesh so that people can recall their contribution to nation building,” deputy chief minister Keshav Maurya told this correspondent on Friday.

The deputy chief minister further defended his decision by saying that the BJP gave due respect to all great men even if it did not subscribe to their ideologies.

“We have always worked for the welfare of dalits and social equality which is also what Kanshi Ram, Lohia and Jai Prakash Narain believed in,” he said.

Though it has not yet come out with an official statement on the subject, the BSP is apparently fuming at this ‘encroachment of ideologues’.

“Now when elections are round the round, the BJP has woken up to naming roads after late Kanshi Ram, knowing well enough that he is the founder of BSP.  This is just designed to create confusion among our voters but we will make sure that they do not lay claim to what rightly belongs to us,” said a BSP MLA.

The Samajwadi Party is equally upset at the BJP’s “mischievous” decision.

“Has the BJP ever celebrated the birth anniversaries of Lohia and Jai Prakash Narain? Have they even taken their names in their speeches? Now when they are running out of issues, they have hit upon this game plan. The people know that Lohia and Jai Prakash are synonymous with Samajwadi Party,” said senior SP leader Ram Govind Chaudhary.

The BJP move has obviously unnerved the SP and BSP, both of whom are now trying to devise ways to counter the move.

“The SP and BSP claim the legacy of these three men but when they were in power, why did they not name roads after them? It was the easiest thing to do without involving financial expenditure. More the legacy of great men and thinkers belongs to humanity and not to one party. Did Kanshi ram or Lohia ever say that their teachings will only be followed by members of BSP or SP?” asked a BJP functionary.