Modi mocks Akhilesh Yadav, sees ‘winds of change’

Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday took a dig at the SP-Congress alliance in Uttar Pradesh, saying the BJP “storm” had forced chief minister Akhilesh Yadav to desperately seek the help of anything, “even a pole”, to retain power as the state saw a politically surcharged day with the SP leader, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and BSP supremo Mayawati addressing rallies in different parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Addressing one of the biggest rallies of the season in Aligarh, Mr Modi mocked at the Opposition parties for joining hands fearing that the BJP will get a majority in the Rajya Sabha. “I see winds of change in Uttar Pradesh. The winds are fierce this time. The winds are so strong in favour of the BJP that the CM is holding on to just about anyone he can find,” the PM said.

At his first joint rally with Mr Yadav, Mr Gandhi urged voters in Kanpur to pick the SP-Congress alliance and said the BJP would face a repeat of the Bihar Assembly poll setback in Uttar Pradesh. “After his defeat in Bihar, PM Modi has stopped speaking about Bihar; after his UP defeat, he will never speak about UP again,” he said.

Elaborating on his roadmap for Uttar Pradesh if the BJP was voted to power, the PM alleged lack of development in the state and came up with a new acronym for “Vikas” (development) — V for vidyut (power), K for kanoon vyavastha (law and order) and S for sadak (roads). Mr Yadav hit back votes. Muslims comprise nearly 20 per cent of the population of the state and are seen to be a crucial votebank.

The RLD, that has decided to go it alone in its western UP stronghold after being rebuffed by the SP for an alliance, has already announced that supporting a BJP-led government was out of the question.

At a recent rally, RLD chief Ajit Singh predicted a hung Assembly in the state after the election, and had said his party will not ally with the BJP. While he did not reveal all his cards, sources in the party told this newspaper that in the scenario of the BSP emerging as the single largest party without a majority, the RLD will support Mayawati to prop up a BSP government in order to prevent the BJP from coming to power.

The so-called secular bloc is apparently keeping its BSP options open with an eye on the 2019 general election. These parties are also jittery due to the constant raging internal feud in the Samajwadi Party and don’t want to put all their eggs into one basket. The elections to the 403-member UP Assembly are seen by many to be a “semi-final” ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

With a scathing attack on Mr Modi, matching acronym for acronym, and harped on SCAM — Save Country from Amit (Shah) and Modi. Giving a positive spin to the acronym, however, Mr Gandhi said SCAM stood for service, courage, ability and modesty.

In his tirade against the Opposition parties, the PM said fatwas were being issued against him on a daily basis because “I am tightening the screws, because I am asking for an account of all the crimes they committed over the past 70 years”.

Mr Modi said demonetisation had created chaos among corrupt people and alleged that the law and order situation in UP was deplorable with an average of 7,650 incidents of crime being committed every day.

Mr Gandhi sought to pin down the PM on his  “Make in India” pledge, saying that our phones still show  “Made in China”. The Congress leader said: “If our alliance comes to power, you will see ‘Made in Kanpur’, ‘Made in Lucknow’.”

He asserted that the Congress-SP alliance was here to stay. “Hum dono mein farak ha bas itna, ek kehta hai khwab, ek kehta hai sapna,” he said. Mr Yadav, too, highlighted the alliance and said: “Now that we have the hand of the Congress, the cycle is going to move faster and in the right direction.”