Akhilesh Yadav jokes about economic package

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Friday took a dig at the “Atmanirbhar” economic package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, suggesting that self-reliance and loans do not go together.

The opposition leader posted a make-believe conversation in which a student asks what is meant by a “loan” and also seeks to know the meaning of “self-reliant”.

“Are loan and self-reliance synonymous,” the student asks. “I will ask Delhi and tell you,” the teacher replies.

Yadav did not elaborate on the teacher-student joke he tweeted in Hindi. But the apparent reference was to the loans announced in the Rs 20 lakh crore “self-reliance” package to revive the economy hit by the COVID-19 crisis.

Yadav had earlier termed the package a “jumla”, or empty rhetoric.

“What kind of solution is this,” he had asked in an earlier tweet.

“Farmers are being asked to take loans. This is not the time to talk in the air about the future but to give immediate relief to farmers,” he said.