Yogi Adityanath rebuts Akhilesh Yadav's jibe; says 'sometimes only a bulldozer works'

Retorting to Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav's 'bulldozer' jibe, UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Saturday doubled down on it saying 'Sometimes there is only one treatment - bulldozer'. Addressing the Prabudh Varg Sammelan in Lucknow, Adityanath slammed the SP govt for allowing gangsters to erect illegal houses on government lands. Vowing that such acts do not work under his regime, he said, 'Sometimes there is a need to give a direct answer by not doing too much politicisation'. The 403-seat UP assembly where Yogi rules with an iron-clad majority of 314 seats, is up for grabs in February 2022.

Yogi: 'Sometimes there is only one treatment - bulldozer'

"Previously, a big mafia leader had erected 5 big houses illegally near the DGP residence. When I was MLA, I toured that place and I demanded a probe into that illegal occupation. I said that there is only one treatment for this - bulldozer. Sometimes there is a need to give a direct answer by not doing too much politicisation. Today you can see, no mafia dares to take over any innocent person's lands," said Adityanath.

His remark was in retaliation to Yadav's suggestion that BJP should change its party symbol to bulldozer - taking a jibe at UP govt's mass drive to clear illegal constructions. Terming 'bulldozing' as Yogi's biggest achievement, Yadav accused BJP of razing houses whose maps were also not found. Yadav also promised that if his government is formed then all the people whose houses have collapsed will be given new houses.

“This government should keep its election symbol bulldozer. The biggest achievement of this government is that they have a bulldozer. It has a steering, right now it is moving here and once the steering direction is changed it will go in the other direction," said Yadav in a Lucknow press conference on Tuesday. He added, "There are many old buildings whose maps are not available, including the Chief minister's residence".

UP Polls 2022

With BJP fighting under the leadership of incumbent CM Yogi Adityanath, several fronts have cropped up to challenge the ruling BJP. While Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj has allied with AIMIM, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party; parties like AAP, Shiv Sena, Azad Samaj Party and JDU have announced that they will be contesting for the UP polls. SP chief Akhilesh Singh Yadav has stated that SP will only ally with smaller political parties for the 2022 Assembly polls, holding talks with Mahan Dal, NCP. Mayawati has already announced that her party will fight polls alone in UP and Uttarakhand, while allying only with Akali Dal in Punjab.  Congress has aggressively campaigned under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi in the state, eyeing its solo return.