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'Ox and buffalo can't be yoked together,' says UP minister on SP-RLD alliance

Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary said that the alliance is an opportunistic one and not in the larger interest of the public
Last Updated 07 December 2021, 14:12 IST

Uttar Pradesh minister Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary on Tuesday mocked the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance for the upcoming Assembly polls, saying an "ox and a buffalo cannot be yoked together".

He challenged SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and RLD President Jayant Chaudhary to contest the polls from each other's stronghold to set all doubts about the alliance to rest. "This alliance is purely an opportunistic one and it will not fulfil any political objective. I throw an open challenge to both of the leaders," he said.

"If there is a political understanding between them, then Jayant Chaudhary should contest from Etawah, Mainpuri, Etah, Farrukhabad or Azamgarh, and Akhilesh Yadav from Chhaprauli, Baghpat or any seat in the Meerut division. This will set all doubts to rest about the alliance," Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary told PTI.

He claimed the voters of RLD will never vote for the SP and vice versa. "This alliance is not in the interest of the people of the state, but for personal interests," he said.

The SP and RLD on Tuesday formally announced their alliance for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls at a rally in Meerut and exuded confidence that the BJP will be "wiped out" from the state.

While SP chief Akhilesh Yadav promised to provide due rights to the farmers, RLD president Jayant Chaudhary said the first work after coming to power would be to build a memorial of those who died during the protest against the now-repealed Central farm laws.

Asked as to whether the alliance will continue after the UP Assembly elections, Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary, who is the dairy development, animal husbandry and fisheries minister, said "In villages, there is saying that an ox and a buffalo cannot be yoked together."

"In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, RLD was contesting with the help of the BJP. The current RLD chief (Jayant Chaudhary) was a candidate from Mathura and then party chief Ajit Singh was contesting from Baghpat. Even before the counting was over, they posed for photographs with Sonia Gandhi and eventually went with the Congress," he said.

The minister also sought to compare the RLD as a "political Bhasmasur", referring to a mythological demon who could turn people into ash by touching their head.

"After the death of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, the existence of the political party, which allied with the RLD, was in grave danger," he said.

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(Published 07 December 2021, 14:12 IST)

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