Modi hits out at Akhilesh: ‘Son who can’t keep father’s promises talking of work’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav of not fulfilling the promises made by his father, Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Addressing a poll rally in Mirzapur, he said: “Mulayam Singh Yadav, the then chief minister of UP, had laid the foundation of a bridge on the Ganga in Bhatauli, Mirzapur.”

“The bridge would have been constructed in these many years?” Modi asked.

When the crowd said, “no,” the PM remarked, “If the bridge has not been constructed, then ‘kaam bol raha hai, yaa karnama’ (Then, is it an example of work speaking for itself or a misdeed?” ‘Kaam bolta hai’ is the Samajwadi Party’s campaign slogan.

He also said, “Mulayam Singh laid the foundation of another bridge in Chunar. Has the bridge been constructed?” The crowd’s response was a loud ‘no’.

“In our country, if the father makes a promise, even the poorest man fulfils it, even if he has



to take a loan. There are people who talk of kaam (work). They, however, have not completed the promises and wishes of their father. What will they do for the public, when they couldn’t fulfil promises of the father?” Modi said.

Had the bridges been near Saifai and if statues were to be erected, these projects would not have been pending.

He appealed to the people to punish political parties ignoring development of Mirzapur and asked whether they were making a bridge or Taj Mahal.

Had locals been asked to build the bridges, they would have done so in these many years, he said.

Referring to a war of words on electricity supply in the state, he said: “Akhilesh has dared me to touch electric wire to find out whether power is really there or not. His new friend Rahul Gandhi during his khaat sabha at Madihan in Mirzapur, however, had touched the wire and told his party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad that there was nothing to worry as there is no power in the line.”