Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Lal Topi” comment, saying that the colour of the cap has reached Delhi and hence the panic has engulfed the BJP’s rank and file.
Akhilesh Yadav spoke to IANS on several issues, including the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls due early next year.
Q. Prime Minister Modi has said that you people yearn for only power. What is your reaction?
A. Red colour symbolises revolution, a change. This is also the colour of emotions. BJP does not understand sentiments. Red colour is the most vibrant colour and warns the party in power to be careful. The people of Uttar Pradesh want a change. The brightness of Lal Topi has reached Delhi, so the language of the BJP has also changed as they are panicky. Changes are bound to happen in the state.
Q. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been taking a dig at the red colour cap and now the Prime Minister has also targeted you.
A. This must have happened for the first time that the Prime Minister has spoken the language of the Chief Minister by rote.
Q. You are continuously claiming to win the upcoming elections, but the BJP is saying that they have defeated you three times in a row — in 2014, 2017 and 2019.
A. Circumstances have changed now. This time, BJP is nervous — farmers, youth, traders and people of the state will show them their real power.
Q. The PM is constantly laying foundation stones and inaugurating events in Uttar Pradesh, what do you have to say?
A. The advertisements they are putting out are false, their development claims are false. They stole a picture of Bengal, of America and of China. Their development claims are hollow.
Q. How many seats are you going to win?
A. The BJP will be wiped out from the state.
