CM Yogi predicts SP wipeout in next UP polls. Photo credit: ANI

NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday claimed the Samajwadi Party would be “wiped out” permanently in the next assembly elections. He accused the SP of neglecting the poor and alleged that its politics remained centered on the interests of a single family.Speaking in Lucknow at an event honouring mid-day meal cooks and distributing cashless healthcare cards, CM Adityanath said his government had expanded welfare support, providing social security gurantees for cooks employed in government primary schools.The measures include a higher honorarium, Rs 2 lakh in financial aid for accidental death or injury, cashless medical treatment up to Rs 5 lakh and a doubling of the saree allowance from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000.Linking the announcements to his political attack on the SP, Adityanath said, “This could have been done earlier as well, but it did not happen because the poor were never an issue in Samajwadi Party’s agenda,” according to PTI.He also took aim at SP president Akhilesh Yadav, referring to him as “Babua” and questioning his claim that the party remained united because several members of his family were MPs.“Babua said all the members of our family are MPs, and that is why the SP remains consolidated. Notwithstanding, people will wipe it out in the next (assembly) election, permanently,” Adityanath said.Yadav had said a day earlier that five members of his family were MPs, while several other SP parliamentarians were Muslims and “committed socialists”, arguing that none had switched sides.

The CM further accused the previous SP administration of failing to protect the poor and allowing crime and disorder to flourish. “These people used to encroach upon the land of the poor, compromise the safety of daughters and no one was safe. There were riots and clashes every day,” he alleged.He contrasted this with his government’s record, claiming Uttar Pradesh had moved beyond the era of frequent riots and curfews and was now witnessing greater development.He said, “If someone, like Babua, wakes up at noon, gets ready by 2 pm, goes to gym at 5 pm and returns at 7 pm to hold his ‘mehfil’ (social gathering), how will they find time for the state?”