BJP govt promised commoners will fly but sold airports, airline: Akhilesh

PTI, Feb 24, 2022, 3:48 PM IST

Prayagraj: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday took a dig at the BJP government, saying it had talked about enabling slippers-wearing commoners to travel by planes, but ended up selling airports and airline.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in the past talked about enabling those who wear ‘hawai chappals’ (rubber slippers) to travel in a ‘hawai jahaaz’ (aircraft).

Addressing a public meeting at the Polytechnic College in Handia assembly constituency, 30 km from here, Yadav alleged that the central government was selling state-owned assets to evade giving reservation to people.

The BJP government is selling all national assets so that it does not have to give reservation or jobs to people, Yadav said in an apparent reference to Adani Group winning bids for six airports and the sale of loss-making national carrier Air India to Tata Group.

Attacking the centre on the issue of employment, he alleged that the government has not undertaken any recruitment drive for the Army for the last three years.

For the country’s youth, five years have been spent in waiting to get employed and now they do not want to wait any longer, Yadav said.

According to a written reply by Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt to a question in Rajya Sabha on December 13 last year, there are over 1.22 lakh vacancies in the armed forces.

Yadav also took a swipe at the BJP government in the state over the renaming of Allahabad to Prayagraj, claiming it has become infamous after its rechristening.

Whether it was the Kumbh Covid testing scam, youth being lathi-charged by police or dead bodies floating in the Ganges river during the peak of second Covid pandemic wave, the name has changed but the government has brought shame to the holy city, Yadav said.

While campaigning for SP candidate from Handia Hakim Chandra Bind, he claimed that the BJP leaders and workers have gone numb after the fourth phase of polling for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls on Wednesday.