Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday took a poetic jibe at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttar Pradesh over allegations of embezzlements of donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, as he appealed to people to not vote for the saffron party in the assembly elections slated to be held early next year.
Akhilesh, a former chief minister who is a Lok Sabha member from Kannauj, also shared a three-minute and eight-second AI-generated video on micro-blogging platform X (formerly Twitter) that showed people rejecting money that was offered to them as it was stolen. The video also featured the Ram Temple in the background, as he took a dig at the BJP.
The Samajwadi Party supremo, who is eyeing a return to power in Uttar Pradesh after 10 years, has constantly raised the issue of Ram Temple donation theft case and cornered the BJP over the incident. Earlier this week, he also claimed that the BJP is nearly left with "nothing but money" in a bid to win the 2027 assembly elections.
His reaction came in response to media reports claiming a possible announcement of Rs 20,000 dole for women in Uttar Pradesh.
"The BJP has nothing left except money to win elections. That too is the BJP's ill-gotten money, which the religious-minded women of Uttar Pradesh will never accept," he had said on X. "Awakened women of Uttar Pradesh are asking that in the other states where elections were won after announcing money for women, on one hand they are reluctant to give it, while on the other they are demanding the money back."
However, the BJP has also countered Akhilesh's allegations and reminded people how the law and order had deteriorated under the Samajwadi Party's rule from 2012 to 2017, which led to constant riots and curfews. Further, the party has said that there were no jobs for the youth in the state during that period.
"There was no security for daughters, traders, artisans or craftsmen. Markets remained deserted due to frequent riots and curfews, directly affecting handloom workers, artisans, students and women," Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said at an event on August 7.
Assembly elections will be held in Uttar Pradesh in February or March next year.
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