Modi sounds ‘red alert’ against Akhilesh

Campaign hits new high in poll-bound UP as Modi, Akhilesh lock horns

Ajay Jha |NT

New Delhi/Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi sounded the war cry on Tuesday when he launched a pre-poll campaign from Gorakhpur, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adithaynath’s home turf in the east, against the main challenger Samajawadi Party and their red caps, ahead of upcoming polls to the key Hindi heartland state.

Equating the red caps worn by Samajwadi Party workers with “red beacons” that suggest a hunger for power while sounding a “red alert” against them, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav was equally quick to face off with a biting tweet that the red caps are a “red alert” for the BJP as they will oust the party from power.

With Akhilesh drawing huge crowds at an impressive gathering in Meerut, western UP, PM Modi’s rally at Gorakhpur in eastern UP was equally huge despite Yogi’s weakening hold. Both sides launched a no holds barred attack that sets the tone for the polls.

Modi was in Gorakhpur, where he inaugurated three mega projects including the branch of the AIIMS and a fertiliser factory. He equated the red cap with red alert and said that the red caps are desperate to come to power. “The entire UP knows very well that those wearing red caps are concerned about red beacon and they are not bothered about your pain and sorrows… They want power to commit scams, fill their coffers, indulge in illegal grabbing, release terrorists from jails and to give complete freedom to the mafia,” Modi said.

Samajwadi Party, which was last in power in the state between 2012 and 2017 with Akhilesh Yadav as the CM, has improved its stock in eastern UP that borders Bihar, with alliances with some caste-based local parties. The five years of Samajwadi Party rule were marked with controversies including a reign of terror unleashed by the influential Yadav community.

SP’s rally at Meerut was jointly organised by the Rashtriya Lok Dal to formally announce a prepoll alliance between the two parties. It brought together the Muslim and Jat communities who are often at loggerheads in a highly surcharged communal atmosphere of western Uttar Pradesh bordering Delhi and Haryana. The two communities traditionally support the Samajwadi Party and the RLD respectively.

While the RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary, grandson of former PM Chaudhary Charan Sing, spoke in a measured tone while criticising Modi and Yogi governments Akhilesh Yadav seething in anger over Modi’s reference to the Red Caps, went ballistic in his speech. “Everything about the BwJP is fake. All of their promises are fake. They are a fake flower and cannot ever be a source of fragrance,” Akhilesh said while referring to BJP’s electoral symbol Lotus.