BJP Should Have 2-Minute Silence For Broken Promises: Akhilesh Yadav

Lashing out at BJP on the "double engine" slogan, Akhilesh Yadav said the UP elections that began on Thursday were to save the constitution and democracy.

Bristling at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks accusing him of "fake Samajwad" that he said was actually "parivarvad" (nepotism), Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday tore into the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh saying since it was run by "people who do not have a family" they did not understand the suffering of others.

He also accused the BJP of reneging on its promises made before the last elections in 2017.

"I want to say that only those who have families can understand the pain of a family, but not those who do not have a family. BJP should observe two minutes of silence for their last manifesto as they could not fulfil the promises made five years ago," Mr Yadav told news agency ANI.

"We are proud to have families. A family person will not run away with jhola (bag) and leave family behind. During the lockdown, if the Chief Minister had a family, he would have understood the pain of labourers walking miles to reach their home," the Samajwadi Party (SP) leader added, in a dig at the PM's famous catchphrase of being a "fakir" (ascetic) who would walk away one day with just a jhola (satchel).