SP,BSP in competition to give tickets to criminals in UP-Yogi

In Uttar Pradesh, the high-pitch electoral campaign is going on for the first two phases of the Seven-Phase Assembly Elections and the Star Campaigners and prominent leaders of various political parties are engaged in public rallies.  The door to door canvassing and virtual appeals to the voters also continue.  On Saturday, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath hit out at the rival Samajwadi Party (SP) and targeted them for giving tickets to leaders with criminal records. Speaking in a rally in Baghpat, Adityanath said, "They give tickets to criminals." "Look at their candidates from Moradabad... one of them had said 'It's good to see the Taliban in Afghanistan.' Taliban means the opposer of humanity... You're supporting it shamelessly and SP gives them tickets." 

He also spoke about the law and order situation during the SP rule in Uttar Pradesh and said, "Women safety was in danger, so much so that girls could not go to schools and Mulayam Singh Ji would say, 'boys make mistakes.'" Adityanath also brought Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to the tirade and said both parties are in "competition to give tickets to the biggest criminal." "If these criminals become MLA, they will produce guns, not flowers and there is only one way to treat them: JCB and bulldozer," he said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday took a swipe at Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, saying he does not have “shame” while talking “lies” about the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh where the BJP government has chased away criminals and mafias who flourished during the earlier regime. He also scoffed at Yadav and RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary’s display of togetherness and said leaders of these parties will be seen together only till election. Addressing a meeting in Muzffarnagar, Shah said that if the SP forms the government this time, Azam Khan will be a part of the Cabinet and RLD president Jayant Chaudhary will be out. 

 Meanwhile, the picture of the electoral battle in the First Phase of Assembly Elections became clear with mostly multi-cornered contests on cards after withdrawal of candidature on Thursday. There are 623 candidates in fray for 58 seats included in this phase. Maximum 15 candidates each are vying for Mathura and Muzaffar Nagar seats while minimum five candidates are in the fray for Iglas seat.