Yogi Adityanath Eats At Dalit House As Rebel Leaders Join Akhilesh Yadav

Videos of the lunch showed a sombre Yogi Adityanath sitting cross-legged on a bright blue mat, with Amrit Lal Bharti, looking up warily and seated a few feet to his left

On Friday afternoon, as Akhilesh Yadav was welcoming seven rebel BJP leaders - two ex-ministers and five ex-MLAs who have considerable sway over OBC voters in the state - to his party, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was at lunching at a Dalit household in Gorakhpur. #WATCH Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath had lunch at the residence of Amritlal Bharti in Gorakhpur"I want to thank Bharti who belongs to Scheduled Caste community for inviting me for 'Khichri Sahbhoj' on the occasion of #MakarSankranti today," the CM says pic.twitter.com/SSIhWglyQE

The Chief Minister, whose party and government are on the ropes after 10 MLAs (and a 11th from allies Apna Dal) walked out this week less than 30 days before polls, hit back at Mr Yadav, declaring "social exploitation" and not "social justice" was common in UP under Samajwadi Party rule.

The BJP government, on the other hand, the Chief Minister said, was working for the development of every section of society without any discrimination.

His statement is significant in light of the criticism (nearly identical in each case) from the OBC leaders who quit between Tuesday and Thursday - that the Yogi Adityanath administration was "deaf" to the problems of Uttar Pradesh's backward classes.