BJP diverting attention with chai and pakoda, says Akhilesh Yadav

Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party leader has once again lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Centre and in state, accusing the ruling party of diverting public attention on Chai and Pakoda.

“BJP governments in centre and state do not want discussion on development issues but it is diverting public attention on Chai and Pakoda,” said the Samajwadi Party leader in view of byelections in Gorakhpur, scheduled to be held on March 11.

He further said, “(I) appeal to the public of Gorakhpur to give a message to the nation in the upcoming Lok Sabha byelection.”

The bypoll in Gorakhpur was necessitated as its Lok Sabha representative Yogi Adityanath was elected to the state Assembly after becoming the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Yogi Adityanath had won the Gorakhpur seat as a BJP candidate for five terms, winning the polls in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014. His closest competitor in most of these elections has been candidate from Samajwadi Party.

Congress is the only party that has declared its candidate for the bypoll. The party has fielded Dr Surheeta Chatterjee Kareem, a gynaecologist, from Gorakhpur. From Phulpur, where bypoll is happening as Keshav Prasad Maurya was elected to the state Assembly after being appointed the Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has named Manish Mishra as its candidate.