Uttar Pradesh minister Nand Gopal Gupta   |  Photo Credit: Times Now
Lucknow, UP: Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh minister Nand Gopal Gupta on Monday accused Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav of Muslim appeasement and said that he can project Osama bin Laden equivalent to his father for votes from the community.
The UP minister, who is also known as ‘Nandi’, made these remarks to attack the SP chief over his old remark which stoked a controversy last month when he named Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, and Jawaharlal Nehru with Jinnah in the same breath to claim that they studied in the same institute to become barristers and fought for India’s freedom.
“Akhilesh’s statement cannot be taken on face value since he’s untrustworthy. For Muslim votes, he can call Jinnah a true nationalist or project Osama as equivalent to his father,” Nandi said.
However, Akhilesh had later clarified his remarks saying that he took the name in reference to how people studying at the same institution went on to play different roles during the freedom movement.
The former UP chief minister had also launched a counter-attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying that its leaders, who have been targeting him for comparing Jinnah with Sardar Patel, should first read a book written by one of their senior leaders and the description of Jinnah therein.
The UP minister further attacked Akhilesh alleging that he has been spreading rumours regarding COVID-19 vaccination in the country. “Thanks to respected Mulayam Singh, he did the work of clearing the illusion spread by his son by getting the vaccine,” he said.
The elections will be held to elect 403 members of the Legislative Assembly in Uttar Pradesh in the month of February to March 2022. The main contest will be between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP).