look news india
In the politics of Uttar Pradesh, the war of words between Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav has reached a new level. Recently, while addressing a public program, CM Yogi has strongly targeted Akhilesh Yadav. Yogi Adityanath took the SP chief’s statements to task and said that his vocabulary and thinking are constantly changing. The CM said sarcastically, “First he called me backward with ‘P’, then he called me a Pandit and I will not be surprised if some day he calls me Pakistan also.” This statement of the Chief Minister has become the center of discussion in the political circles of the state, on which a round of reactions has started from both the sides.
Yogi Adityanath’s sharp sarcasm and political attack
In his address, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while referring to the statements of Akhilesh Yadav in the last few months, accused him of ‘unstable mentality’. He said the opposition has no positive agenda for the development of the state, hence they are only indulging in personal comments and word games. Yogi said that a responsible opposition should talk on public issues, but the SP chief is only adept at changing definitions as per his convenience. This sarcasm of the CM has made it clear that the politics of Uttar Pradesh is going to get more heated in the coming times.
Politics and rhetoric of ‘backward vs pandit’
In fact, in the recent past, there has been a lot of war of words between Akhilesh Yadav and BJP leaders regarding caste politics and religious identity in Uttar Pradesh. Akhilesh Yadav had made many controversial statements from time to time raising questions on the functioning of BJP regarding the interests of ‘backward’ and ‘Pandit’ class. In the context of these statements, Yogi Adityanath said that how the SP President tries to fit anyone into any category according to his political needs. CM believes that such rhetoric only creates differences in the society and its purpose is only to do appeasement politics.
Pakistan’s joke and its seriousness
CM Yogi’s ‘Pakistan’ jibe is the most discussed. Political analysts believe that Yogi Adityanath has targeted Akhilesh Yadav’s nationalism and the public’s doubt towards his party through this statement. They are trying to convey the message that the opposition’s frustration has reached such a level that they are not shying away from crossing all limits. However, SP supporters say that this is just a political statement and the Yogi government is resorting to such statements to divert attention from its failures.
Opposition’s counterattack: ‘Government is diverting attention from the issues’
On the other hand, Samajwadi Party has termed these statements of the Chief Minister as ‘absurd’. SP leaders say that whenever Akhilesh Yadav raises questions on the real issues of the public like unemployment, law and order and inflation, the government resorts to such personal attacks. SP alleges that instead of giving account of its development work, the Yogi government is engaged in mere words. The party also said that the Chief Minister should choose his language keeping in mind the dignity of the constitutional post, which is now becoming a matter of debate among the general public.
Changing political culture of Uttar Pradesh
The level of political dialogue in Uttar Pradesh has become quite aggressive in the last few years. Both Yogi Adityanath and Akhilesh Yadav are using such rhetoric to attract the public in their respective styles. While Yogi Adityanath is known as a staunch and fierce speaker, Akhilesh Yadav takes the government to task with his sarcastic style. This latest controversy has proved that ideological differences in UP politics have now turned towards personal comments. It will be interesting to see in the coming days whether both the leaders return to the issues or this war of words becomes more intense.