Vinod Tawde
Lucknow : BJP national general secretary and Uttar Pradesh in-charge Vinod Tawde on Thursday accused Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav of pursuing “appeasement politics” by meeting party leaders lodged in jail. He alleged that the move reflected the opposition party’s priorities ahead of the assembly elections. Tawde’s statement came soon after Akhilesh met senior party leader Azam Khan at Rampur jail. Tawde alleged that Akhilesh’s decision to meet party leaders accused of promoting communal tensions and disorder exposed the SP’s political approach as Uttar Pradesh prepares for the next assembly elections. Recalling the tenure of previous Samajwadi Party govts, Tawde claimed that the state, particularly western Uttar Pradesh, had witnessed riots and lawlessness under SP rule. He alleged that the party’s politics could push the state away from development and towards instability. Targeting Azam Khan, Tawde alleged that the Samajwadi Party’s purported ambition to make him home minister reflected a political approach that the BJP would oppose. He claimed that such a prospect would reverse the state’s development trajectory and asserted that it would never materialise.
Tawde’s remarks come amid preparations by political parties for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, with the BJP and the SP expected to intensify their exchanges over governance, law and order, and communal relations.