'Already been uprooted': Akhilesh, Awadhesh target Amit Shah over 'Angad's foot' remark

NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday dismissed Union home minister Amit Shah's claim that the BJP was firmly entrenched in Uttar Pradesh, questioning him over crimes against women and Dalits in the state.

Party MP Awadhesh Prasad also hit back at Shah's "Angad's foot" remark, saying the BJP's political footing had "already been uprooted". According to PTI, Akhilesh made the remarks while responding to Shah's assertion that the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh was firmly established and could not be dislodged.

"Home minister should look into why women face so much injustice in Uttar Pradesh, why the state witnesses so many murders and why people from the Dalit community are among the worst affected," Akhilesh said.

He questioned the BJP's claims of political stability in the state, shifting the focus to the government's record on law and order and the treatment of women and Dalits.

Reacting to Shah's claim that the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh was firmly entrenched, Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad said the party had already lost ground in the state. Responding to Shah's comparison of the BJP's position to "Angad's foot", Awadhesh said, "The foot has already been uprooted."

Awadhesh said the BJP had failed to retain several seats in the recent Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections despite making every effort. He cited the party's defeats in Varanasi, Lucknow and Agra, and also referred to its loss in Prayagraj, a prominent educational centre.

He also pointed to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, saying the BJP had failed to achieve its target of winning all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. The SP won 37 seats, while the Congress secured six, taking the INDIA bloc's tally to 43 seats in the state.

Shah made the remarks on Friday while addressing the BJP's state working committee meeting at the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University auditorium in Lucknow. The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, and other senior BJP leaders.

Shah expressed confidence that the BJP would return to power in the 2027 Assembly elections, comparing the party's position in Uttar Pradesh to "Angad's foot" and saying nobody could dislodge it.

He also announced that the BJP would implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttar Pradesh if voted back to power. Targeting the Samajwadi Party over the Ram temple issue, Shah referred to the October 30, 1990, police firing on kar sevaks in Ayodhya and accused the SP of ordering firing on Ram devotees, while asserting that the BJP had built the Ram temple.