BJP takes dig at anointment of Akhilesh in place of Mulayam

NEW DELHI: BJP today took a dig at anointment of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav as Samajwadi Party president by his faction, saying it amounted to removal of an "authorised" president by an "unauthorised" chief.

"In our society, father has the right to write a will, not the son... It amounts to removal of an authorised president by an unauthorised chief," BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav told reporters here while commenting on Mulayam's ouster from the post of SP president and anointment of Akhilesh in his place by his faction.

BJP believes that the "forced removal" of Mulayam may go against Akhilesh, who is banking on his "clean image" to return to power in the upcoming Assembly elections.

Claiming that poll atmosphere is in his party's favour in the state, a BJP leader said the four 'Parivartan Yatras', that had started on November 5 and travelled over 17000 kilometers, have helped build support for it.

It is remarkable that the party leaders and workers faced no protests from the public in their hundreds of meetings during the 'yatras' even though the state's two main parties, SP and BSP, have been bitter critics of demonetisation, the BJP leader said.

Welcoming the announcement of election dates, BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said his party will do well in the five states going to the polls and asserted that it will come back to power in UP after a gap of 14 years on planks of good governance and development.

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The state's infrastructure, health and education facilities have crumbled under the SP government, he said, and hit out at it over "poor" law and order.

"Once BJP comes to power, we will do surgical strike against criminals, provide water to farmers and boost all- round growth," he claimed.

The central government has given 2.5 lakh crore extra to the state government since 2014 but the money was not utilised efficiently for UP's development, he said.