He should spend less time lecturing us: After bypoll losses, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah mocks Yogi Adityanath

A Twitter war between Siddaramaiah and his UP counterpart Yogi Adityanath are nothing new. They have traded attacks in the past on each other's governance during the UP CM's visit to poll-bound Karnataka.

BENGALURU: After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suffered a massive defeat in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur bypolls in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah took a jibe at CM Yogi Adityanath asking him to focus on Uttar Pradesh and not 'lecture' Karnataka. "Perhaps Yogi Adityanath should spend less time lecturing Karnataka on development," he tweeted on Wednesday night.

He also congratulated the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, who had joined hands for the elections, for their win on the seats that were previously held by Yogi Adityanath and Deputy UP CM Keshav Prasad Maurya. 

"BJP has suffered humiliating loss in the Lok Sabha seats held by the CM & DyCM of UP. Congratulations to SP & BSP for this historic victory. Unity among the non-BJP parties has played a key role," the Karnataka CM tweeted. 

The rounds of attacks and counterattacks between the Karnataka CM and his counterpart in UP are not new. Adityanath during his two visits to poll-bound Karnataka had targeted Siddaramaiah over the development in the state. The two CMs had indulged in a Twitter war with the two attacking each other on the issue of development and governance.

'Welcoming' Adityanath to Karnataka, the Congress leader had reminded the UP CM of the 'starvation deaths' in the northern state. "I welcome UP CM Shri @myogiadityanath to our state. There is a lot you can learn from us Sir. When you are here please visit a Indira Canteen & a ration shop. It will help you address the starvation deaths sometimes reported from your state," Siddaramaiah tweeted. 

The UP in turn had responded to the jibe and tweeted back reminding Siddaramiah of the high number of farmer suicides in the Karnataka. "Thank you for the welcome @siddaramaiah ji. I heard number of farmers committing suicide in Karnataka was highest in your regime, not to mention the numerous deaths and transfer of honest officers. As UP CM I am working to undo the misery and lawlessness unleashed by your allies," Adityanath had tweeted.

On Wednesday, SP's Praveen Nishad won the Gorakhpur seat by 21,961 votes, and SP's candidate Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel won Phulpur bypoll by defeating his nearest rival BJP's Kaushlendra Singh Patel by 59,460 votes. Gorakhpur was vacated by Adityanath and Phulpur by his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya, following their election to the Uttar Pradesh state legislative council.