Akhilesh, Keshav Maurya Trade Barbs in UP Assembly; Yogi Supports His Deputy

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and Leader of Opposition Akhilesh Yadav engaged in a war of words during a discussion on the governor's address in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday, 26 May.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister, amid his speech in the House, made a snide remark directed at Yadav, saying that the Samajwadi Party (SP) leader was 'praising' the work done during his tenure as the chief minister.

"If his work was of any good, people would not have cleaned up the Samajwadi Party's mess in the election," Maurya said.

Resuming his attack on the SP leader, he added, "Get rid of this disease of pasting a sticker of the Samajwadi Party on every scheme. You have been out of power for five years. Now, out again for five more years. In 2027 too, I'm sure the lotus will bloom."

Yadav's response was prompted when Maurya brought up the Opposition leader's 'land in Saifai.'

"Who has made the roads, the expressway, the metro? It seems all of this has been built by selling your land in Saifai."

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya

Irked by this statement, the SP leader raised his voice and asked if the state minister took money from his father to build the roads, as other SP members heckled Maurya from behind.

Reacting to the heated exchange, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath intervened to say that using 'indecent words' against a 'respected leader' was incorrect.

"I would very politely say to the leader of the Opposition that you should not have been so agitated. The question is not of Saifai," Adityanath stated.

"Consent and dissent is the strength of democracy but if the Deputy Chief Minister is making his point, I think we should listen to him. Many things of the leader of the Opposition too might be wrong, but we have heard," he added.

(With inputs from PTI.)