DEORIA: BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda on Tuesday accused Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav of taking an oath to protect terrorists and not the Constitution.
In an election meeting in Deoria's Rudrapur here, Nadda accused former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav of seeking to withdraw during his tenure cases against terrorists involved in several terror attacks.
"Other people swear by God to protect the Constitution but Akhilesh says he swears by God that he will protect terrorists," the Bharatiya Janata Party president told the rally.
"Last Friday, 38 people were sentenced to death in the Ahmedabad bomb blasts case. Among them, Shadab Ahmed, father of Mohammad Saif, is a Samajwadi Party worker and is working closely with Akhilesh," Nadda said.
The BJP president also hit out at Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accusing her of describing the issue of terrorism as a "fizul ka mudda (useless issue)".
"On the issue of terrorism, Priyanka Gandhi says it is a 'fizul' (useless) matter. Her father Rajiv Gandhi died in a terrorist attack but terrorism is a 'fizual ka mudda' for her," the BJP president said.
Maintaining that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ended 'mafia raj' and 'goonda raj' (rule by mafia and hooligans) in the state, Nadda said Adityanath has put all anti-nationals in jails.
"Five years ago, Azam Khan, Mukhtar Ansari and Atiq Ahmed used to spread terror but for the last five years, all three have been playing 'gulli danda' (a village game) in jail," he said.
Nadda urged people to vote for the BJP saying it was under the Yogi Adityanath's rule that festivals like Holi and Diwali are now celebrated in the state with greater fervour.
"Diwali used to come in Uttar Pradesh earlier also but why there was no Deepotsav in Ayodhya? Even Krishna Janmashtami used to come earlier but why was Mathura not decorated? Why even Varanasi was not decorated on Dev Deepawali earlier? Now all this is happening under the BJP rule. This is the power of your vote," Nadda said.
He claimed that no SP or Congress leader has the power to go to the public and count his developmental work for the state.
"Only the BJP people can thump their chest and say we did what we said. The politics of report card has been taught by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said. Deoria will go to the polls on Feb 3 during the sixth phase of the seven-phase elections in UP.