LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday accused the BJP of befooling Vishwakarma community and said if voted to power in Uttar Pradesh in the 2022 assembly polls, his party would get a temple of Lord Vishwakarma built here on the banks of the Gomti.
He also said if the SP forms government in the state, it will restart the tradition of giving a holiday on the occasion of Vishwakarma Jayanti.
Addressing Vishwakarma community members, Yadav said, "The BJP has cheated members of the Vishwakarma community. The respect, which they deserve, have not been accorded to them."
"If the SP gets the Vishwakarma community's support, it will form the government in the state.
If the SP is voted to power in UP in the 2022 assembly polls, a temple of Lord Vishwakarma will be built on the banks of river Gomti in Lucknow," he added.
In a statement issued by the SP, Yadav said the tradition of giving a holiday on the occasion of Vishwakarma Jayanti will be also restored in the state.
"Laptops will be distributed among Vishwakarma community student on priority basis," he said at a programme held at the party office here.
Reacting sharply to Yadav's remarks, BJP's UP unit's media co-convenor Navin Srivastava said, "The statement made by Akhilesh Yadav is completely baseless and devoid of fact."
"The aim behind scrapping holidays by the UP government was to hold programmes in the schools and colleges, so as to enable the younger generation know about the life, deeds and glory of the great personalities in whose honour the holidays were announced," he added.