Rajeev Chandrasekhar backs Akhilesh Yadav’s jibe at Congress

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India]: BJP leader and Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday said he agreed with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s comments made against the Congress party.

Chandrasekhar noted that Yadav’s remarks were apt, claiming that the Congress has taken a U-turn after having announced allowance for unemployed Karnataka youth in their poll manifesto.

In the ensuing polls, the BJP is directly in a fight with Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, and to some extent in Telangana.

“…I usually do not agree with what Akhilesh Yadav says but yesterday he made a very good description and said that the Congress party is a fraud. I want to keep some facts about the frauds done by the Congress party…There were elections recently in Karnataka where Congress made 5 promises,” Chandrasekhar told a press briefing.

The Congress party, which came back to power in Karnataka with a thumping majority, promised five “guarantees” in the Manifesto. The promises were 200 units of free power to all; Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family; 10 kg of rice free to all members of a BPL family; Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth; Rs 1,500 for diploma holders (age group of 18-25) for two years; and free travel in government buses for women.

“Congress party promised to provide Rs 3,000 allowance for unemployed youth in the state but after the elections, they changed it and said that they will provide it only to the youth who were unemployed the previous year after graduating…,” Chandrasekhar added in the press briefing.

Amid the ongoing rift within the INDIA alliance, Samajwadi Party (SP) Chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday hit out at the Congress, calling it a “Chalu” party. He added that the Congress has “betrayed” the alliance.

“Congress is a ‘Chalu’ party. Do not vote for it. If It can betray us, then how can you be important for them? Stay aware of it”, Yadav said while addressing an election gathering in Jatara constituency of the Tikamgarh district in Madhya Pradesh.

The strained partners in the INDIA bloc have been at loggerheads following the breakdown in seat-sharing talks, with Akhilesh firing the “Chirkut” (small-timer) jibe at Congress’ Uttar Pradesh unit chief Ajay Rai in October.