Home Minister Shah and SP's Akhilesh Yadav out to teach ABC of campaign to each other

The seemingly two-way contest for power between the ruling BJP and Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh has turned into a battle of acronyms with Union home minister Amit Shah and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav finding new ways to say their ABC to attack the other.

In a public assembly on Tuesday, Shah said SP's alphabets were "twisted" where A stood for "apradh" and "atank" (crime and terror), B for "bhai bhateejawaad" (favouritism), C for "corruption", and D for "dange" (riots).

Yadav, who was carrying out his roadshow in Unnao was quick to retort. "After the incidents of Hathras, Lakhimpur Kheri, Gorakhpur and Agra, now BJP supporters are also standing against BJP and uttering ABCD - 'Ab BJP chhod di' ( Now we have stopped supporting BJP)," he said.


A couple of days ago, in Kasganj, Shah had alleged that under the SP rule, three Ps - "parivaarvaad" (dynastic politics), "pakshpaat" (bias), and "palayan" (exodus) - dominated and it was only when BJP came to power that the politics of "vikaasvaad" (development) started.

Yadav did not lose time to retort and said, three Ps defining the BJP rule are "paakhand" (hypocrisy), "prataarna" (cheating), and "praanghatak" (life threatening).

The war of wordplay had started last month from Azamgarh where Shah in a public address said that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi ushered in a 'JAM' to aid transparency that stood for 'Jan Dhan' accounts, 'Aadhar' and 'mobiles', SP also ushered in a JAM that stood for 'Jinnah', 'Azam Khan' and 'Mukhtar'.

It was for the public to decide whether they wanted BJP's JAM or SP's version of it, he had said.

Yadav had then retorted: "BJP's JAM is J for 'jhooth' (lies), A for 'ahankaar' (arrogance) and M for 'mehengai' (inflation)..."

The usage of acronyms by BJP is not new. In 2017, when it was fighting against the incumbent SP, the prime minister in a jibe had said the party was fighting against "SCAM" - SP, Congress, Akhilesh Yadav, and Mayawati.

During campaigning for the 2019 general elections in the state, Shah had said BJP had rid the state of "NIZAAM" - Nasimuddin Siddiqui, Imran Masood, Azam Khan, Atique Ahmed, and Mukhtar Ansari - referring to Muslim leaders of Congress, BSP and SP.