Yogi takes dig at Shivpal, says swings like ‘pendulum’

Agra: UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath launched a scathing attack on Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) leader Shivpal Singh Yadav days after the latter shared stage with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav. Shival has declared support for Dimple, who is the SP candidate for the Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypoll that was necessitated after the death of its MP and family patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on October 10. Addressing his first election rally in poll-bound Mainpuri, Yogi said on Monday: “His (Shivpal's) condition has become like that of a pendulum that keeps moving from one side to another.The FIFA tournament is going on. Just like in the game, when a person kicks from one side and the other kicks from another and the ball is left dancing in between... some people have become like a football. They don't have their own momemtum. One must avoid becoming like a football. People should ensure that they are not treated like one. With great clarity, we must move forward with respect and self-respect.” The CM added at the rally in Karhal, an assembly constituency that is represented by Akhilesh, “Shivpal Yadav was not even given a chair to sit on at a rally in the past and we all saw him sitting on the armrest of a chair not so long ago.” SP leaders shot back and said that the BJP is not able to “tolerate the unity of chacha (uncle Shivpal) and bhatija (nephew Akhilesh), and as a result the party is adopting petty tactics”.After almost six years of strained relations, Akhilesh had touched the feet of his uncle, Shivpal, at a public meeting on November 20. Addressing the meeting in Saifai, Shivpal had then told the gathering, “Aap ne kaha ek ho jao to hum ek ho gaye. Ab bahu ko jeeta dena (You asked us to unite and we have done so. Now help our daughter-in-law win)”. Dimple is one of the six candidates in the fray for the byelection, polling for which will be held on December 5 and counting on December 8. The Mainpuri parliamentary constituency has five assembly segments: Mainpuri, Bhongaon, Kishni, Karhal and Jaswantnagar. In the 2022 assembly elections, the SP won the Karhal, Kishni and Jaswantnagar seats, while the BJP won the Mainpuri and the Bhogaon seats. Yogi, however, paid tributes to Mulayam and said, “Netaji (Mulayam) had blessed us ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Following his blessings, BJP destroyed the so-called fortress of SP in Azamgarh and Rampur. Now, it's the turn of Mainpuri to create history. With the blessings of Netaji, the lotus (party symbol) will bloom in Mainpuri as well.”
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