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Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of getting his telephones tapped and listening to the conversation every evening.
Yadav made the allegation while dubbing Adityanath as the most 'anupyogi' (useless) chief minister and seeking to counter Prime Minister Narendra Modi's poll formula 'UP+Yogi=Upyogi', aimed at asserting the utility of the Adityanath government for UP's growth.
Yadav also promised to get conducted a caste-based census, if voted to power in UP.
On Akhilesh Yadav's remark, terming Chief Minister Adityanath as 'unupyogi' (useless), Bharatiya Janata Party state president Swatantra Dev Singh asked how can lodging Azam Khan and Mukhtar Ansari in jail and running bulldozer on Atiq Ahmad's illegal property be 'anupyogi'.
He asked voters to vote in the name of (Narendra) Modi and Yogi (Adityanath) and advised them not to consider caste, religion, region or money power while exercising their franchise.
A day after a string of Income Tax Department's raids and searches at some SP leaders' offices and residences, Yadav, while talking to reporters, also alleged that wary of its impending defeat in the upcoming assembly elections, the BJP government would be misusing various enforcement agencies more and more to persecute SP leaders in days to come.
"All our telephonic conversations have been heard. This 'anupyogi' chief minister himself listens to the recordings of some people every evening," Yadav alleged.
He also asked reporters to 'remain alert, if you are speaking to me' and alleged that the Yogi government is running a WhatsApp University in the state.
The entire country knows that whenever the BJP is about to lose an election in any state, the frequency of the misuse of various enforcement agencies by the BJP rises, UP former Chief Minister Yadav alleged.
"The BJP is following the Congress' way. Like the Congress, it is rearing to use the central agencies to instil fear (in rival political parties)," said Yadav.
"Seeing the atmosphere in the state, I can say that the Yogi government will not last. The people have made up their mind for a 'yogya' (able) government," said Yadav.
"No government could be more 'anupyogi' (useless) than this government, It has ruined Uttar Pradesh," he asserted.
Yadav also attributed the recent visits of chief ministers and deputy chief ministers of the 12 BJP-ruled states to various places in UP, including Varanasi and Ayodhya, to the saffron party's alleged fears of impending defeat in the upcoming assembly elections.
"The BJP has become apprehensive of its impending defeat in the UP assembly elections. This fear is behind the increasing number of visits of their leaders from Delhi and chief ministers (of various BJP-ruled states) to UP," he said.
"And when these leaders come, the Income Tax, Enforcement Directorate, CBI and other departments too will attack us. But it is being seen for the first time that these organisations have begun working to ensure that the SP is not able to form its government in the state," Yadav alleged.
Reacting to Yadav's assertion that the BJP is wary of its impending defeat in the UP assembly polls, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan expressed confidence that the BJP will win more than 300 assembly seats in UP.
"The BJP is going to win over 300 seats in assembly polls. The figure could reach even 400 (of the total 403 seats)," Chauhan said.
Seeking to corner the BJP over the alleged involvement of the son of Union Home Minister of State for Home Ajay Misra 'Teni' in the October 3 violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, Yadav said, "Don't the Centre and state government know the allegations levelled against 'Teni'?"
"Whenever fingers are raised at 'Teni', the government tries to shield him. Four farmers and a journalist lost their lives in the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri," he said.
Violence had erupted in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3 when farmers were protesting the visit of Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to Misra's native place.
Four agitating farmers were run over by a vehicle while four others, including a journalist and two BJP workers, were killed in the violence that ensued.
Ashish Misra, the son of Union minister of state for Home Ajay Misra, has been named arrested in the case.
The SP supremo also accused Adityanath of posting district magistrates and superintendents of police of his own caste in districts having parliamentary or assembly constituencies going to polls to ensure that BJP candidates win the elections.
"When the (2019 Lok Sabha) elections were taking place, what was the caste of the superintendent of police of Kannauj, of a senior police official in Kanpur and the DGP of UP," Yadav asked, insinuating that Yogi posts Rajput officials in poll-bound districts.
Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav had lost the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Kannauj to the BJP.
Yadav also promised, if voted to power, to get conducted a caste-based census, claiming that the 'extremely backward' Nishad community people, who have been demanding to be declared as scheduled caste, are upset with the government for keeping silent on their demand.