PUNE: Taking a veiled swipe at Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Congress veteran Sushil Kumar Shinde on Saturday said that many leaders are quitting the BJP and joining other parties ahead of elections as they are fed up with "dictatorship".
Speaking to reporters, he said Congress will get votes from certain sections in the upcoming UP polls even as he downplayed a query on why leaders walking out of the ruling BJP fold are preferring the Samajwadi Party (SP) over Congress.
Responding to a query, the former Union home minister said there was no breach in the security of prime minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to poll-bound Punjab.
When asked about the PM's statement after the alleged security breach, Shinde said, "I don't think there is any breach in the PM's security. They (the PM and his security personnel) should have asked various agencies before leaving for the function (in Punjab). The intelligence is available 24 hours before...How did they go there? Now, they are accusing Congress of politics".
Shinde said it didn't matter if some leaders from BJP in Uttar Pradesh are joining SP and not Congress.
"It doesn't matter which party they are joining. Congress will get votes from certain sections in Uttar Pradesh. As they are fed up with the dictatorship in BJP they are joining other parties in UP," he alleged.
"BJP's days are over now. They have proved that they just talk and do nothing. I think they are following the democratic way," he said when asked about leaders deserting BJP.
Shinde said terming farmers protesting for the withdrawal of three farm laws as "Khalistanis" was wrong.
"These farmers were protesting against injustice. Their issues should have been resolved earlier, but the government lacked the willpower to do so," he alleged when asked about the farmers' protests that were withdrawn in last December after over a year.