Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (L) and Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav (R).
Credit: PTI Photos
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday mocked former Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, without taking their names, during a debate on the alleged deaths from Codeine cough syrup in UP, as ‘do namoone’ (laughing stock), one sitting in Delhi and the other at Lucknow.
Akhilesh not only immediately hit back but also sought to draw an entirely new inference of Adityanath’s dig, hinting that it reflected the tussle between the state government and the BJP’s central leadership.
‘’Codeine syrup se Pradesh mein koi maut nahi hui hai…Desh ke andar do namoone hain, ek Delhi mein baithe hain aur ek Lucknow mein…Jab desh mein koi charcha hoti hai to ye turant desh chodkar bhag jate hain’’ (no death has taken place from Codeine cough syrup in UP…the country has ‘do namoone’….one sits in Delhi and the other in Lucknow…they run away to foreign countries whenever there is a debate on any important issue in the country), Adityanath said.
Akhilesh hit back almost immediately.
‘’Atma sweekriti….kisi ko ummed nahin this ki Delhi aur Lucknow ki ladai yehan tak pahunch jayegisamvaidhanik padon par baithe log aapas mein kuch to lok-laj rakhen aur maryada ki seema na langhe…kahin koi bura maan gaya to wapas jana padega’’ (A confession….no one had expected the tussle between Delhi and Lucknow would reach to this level…those occupying constitutional posts must maintain some dignity and not cross the line of decency….is someone takes it otherwise then they will have to go)’’ Akhilesh said in a post on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter).
Akhilesh was apparently referring to media reports in the past with regard to the appointment of two deputy CMs and also making an ex-bureaucrat, considered to be close to prime minister Narendra Modi, a minister in the state, to what some claimed ‘limit’ Adityanath’s authority. The CM had dismissed these claims.
The issue was raised in the assembly by leader of the opposition Mata Prasad Pandey, who demanded a discussion on the same. The SP members accused the state government of ‘shielding’ the guilty.
In his reply, Adityanath took the ‘don namoone’ dig and said that the ‘‘babua will leave for England and you (SP members) will keep shouting here’’.
Pandey took exception to his remarks but the Speaker said that the chief minister had not taken any name.
Adityanath said that the Special Task Force (STF) was investigating the matter. He said that 78 people had so far been arrested in this connection.
Sources said that the STF, in its preliminary report to the government, said that the firms that manufactured the syrup, had been given licenses during the SP regime.