Akhilesh Yadav accustomed to air-conditioned rooms, says SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar

SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar told PTI, "His (Akhilesh Yadav) party leaders complain that he does not meet anyone. He should venture out more often to constituencies."

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Mau (UP): Amid dissensions in the Samajwadi Party (SP), Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar said that his ally SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has become "too used to air-conditioned rooms" and advised him to venture out more often to meet people. He made this remark while addressing his party workers here on Sunday. The Samajwadi Party has 111 MLAs in the 403-member UP Assembly, while its ally SBSP has six MLAs.

Asked what prompted him to make such a statement, the SBSP chief Rajbhar told PTI, "His (Akhilesh Yadav) party leaders complain that he does not meet anyone. He should venture out more often to constituencies." When his attention was drawn that his statement might be taken otherwise by Yadav or the SP, Rajbhar said that the "truth is bitter", adding that he did not say anything wrong.

"His leaders have told me that I should advise him so that he meets people, strengthens his party and shun his 'navratnas' (nine gems) who surround him," the SBSP chief said, adding "His people say his 'navratnas' did not allow him to form the government. The people were ready to vote for him but he was not ready to take votes."

Asked what will happen if the SP snaps its ties with the SBSP in view of his statement, Rajbhar is quoted by PTI as saying, "I have formed the party (SBSP) on my own, and work on my strength. A person who requires me will come to me automatically."

Akhilesh Yadav addresses party workers, flays Yogi govt 

Addressing the party workers ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly session on Sunday, Akhilesh Yadav said the state has gone backwards in every field under the BJP rule. "The BJP government had promised to reduce the electricity bill by half but it is the electricity supply that has been reduced to half," he said, adding that all promises of the BJP have turned out to be false.

Akhilesh Yadav reminded his party workers that the SP's previous government had provided electricity to weavers at a fixed rate while the BJP was doing injustice to them.

Yadav said, "Houses of the poor are being demolished with bulldozers. Innocent people are being framed in false cases. The BJP government is harassing the opposition parties, especially workers and leaders of the Samajwadi Party, by lodging fake cases after the assembly elections."

The SP chief alleged, "Animals are grazing crops of farmers. The maximum number of cows have died under the BJP government. Medical colleges are ruined and there is neither doctor nor medicine there. A patient is compelled to wander from one place to another for treatment."

His statement further said that the BJP government has only encouraged corruption in the past five years, adding that even the Gyanvapi issue is being raised to mislead people.

"The RSS-BJP governments refrain from works of public interest and promote hatred so that people do not live in harmony," PTI quoted Akhilesk as saying.

On Sunday, senior SP legislator Azam Khan and sulking socialist leader Shivpal Singh Yadav skipped the party MLAs' meet ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly session.

Shivpal had skipped the party MLAs' meeting amid differences with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. Notably, Shivpal had parted ways with Akhilesh in the 2017 Assembly polls and had formed his own outfit, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia. He contested this year's Assembly polls on the Samajwadi Party symbol.

(With Inputs from Agencies)