Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday of misleading the people in West Bengal and said the party would campaign in favour of the TMC for the Assembly election.
The comments came a day after Adityanath addressed a rally in minority-dominated Malda district where he alleged that cattle smuggling and “love jihad” were continuing unabated in West Bengal and the Mamata Banerjee government was endangering national security by indulging in “appeasement” politics.
In a statement, Yadav said the BJP wanted to come to power in the state by spreading “confusion and propaganda” during the Assembly polls. “The Samajwadi Party will not allow this conspiracy of the BJP to succeed,” he added. He alleged that Adityanath was “misleading” the people and appealed to the voters not to fall prey to the designs of the BJP, which “indulges in politics of hate”.
“It’s in the interest of democracy to be cautious of it (BJP),” the SP leader said.
Yadav said SP vice president and former minister Kiranmoy Nanda would conduct an election campaign in support of the TMC in the state. Incidentally, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had also met TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee two days ago.
“West Bengal is home to a large number of Hindi-speaking people from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand,” he had said, adding the RJD’s stand is to provide “full support” to Banerjee.
The high-stakes elections in West Bengal, poised to be a tough contest between the TMC and the BJP, will be held in eight phases between March 27 and April 29. Votes will be counted on May 2.
