Amid speculations of a rift in the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party (SP) president and former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday took a dig at the party by calling the Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya a "pawn".
While speaking to the reporters, Yadav hit out at the Yogi Adityanath government of corruption. "The government used to claim that there is a zero-tolerance policy, especially on corruption and law and order. But now their leaders themselves are saying we have not seen such corruption in our political life," Yadav was quoted by PTI. Yadav was speaking to the media after unveiling a 'Samvidhan-Manstambh' at the SP headquarters in Lucknow.
He added that corruption has been exposed and some people have become pawns.
"I heard that 'Maurya ji mohre hain' (Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya is a pawn), a password to Delhi's Wi-Fi," he added.
While hitting out at Yadav's comments, Maurya called him as a "Congress's pawn" and urged him to save his party from extinction.
"Samajwadi Party leader Shree Akhilesh Yadav ji, who has become a pawn of the Congress, should focus on saving the SP from extinction rather than harbouring misconceptions about the BJP, targeting the backward sections and insulting them,” said Maurya.
“The BJP will repeat the 2017 (state assembly poll performance) in 2027. The lotus (the BJP's poll symbol) has bloomed and will continue to bloom," he added.
Maurya had skipped some state cabinet meetings amid speculation about his growing differences with the chief minister amid speculations of rift.