'Will those without family be able to feel pain of families,' asks Akhilesh

Hitting back at BJP leaders over their "dynast" jibe against him, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said a person who has a family understands its pain and asked will those without a family be able to feel the pain of families.

Addressing an election meeting in Jalaun in Uttar Pradesh, Yadav said, "They are terming me a 'ghor pariwarvadi' (ultimate dynast). A person who has a family understands the pain of the family. The BJP leaders do not have any family, will they be able to feel the pain of families? Only a family person can understand his responsibility. A family person can understand what inflation is. People who have families are sitting here and they can feel (pain of) price rise. The youth feel (pain of) joblessness."

BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in some of his campaign speeches, has said the 'S' in the SP means 'sampatti ikattha' (amassing wealth) and 'P' means 'pariwarwad' (dynasty).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also accused the SP of being "ghor pariwarvadi".

Sharpening his attack on the BJP, Yadav alleged that the money deposited by people in banks after the demonetisation exercise has been stolen by industrialists, who have subsequently fled the country.

"Your money which was deposited in banks was stolen. A few days ago, an industrialist fled after taking more than Rs 22,000 crore from 28 banks. He is not the first industrialist to have fled after taking money. Since the formation of the BJP government, big industrialists have fled after taking money from banks," he told the rally and asked "where do the industrialists who have fled belong to?"

He also raised the issue of stray cattle destroying crops in fields.

The SP president said his party-led alliance "has hit a century" after the first two phases of polling and that it will bag more than 200 seats at the end of fourth phase.

In an apparent swipe at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Yadav said, "The leader who wanted to curb the 'garmi' (haughtiness) of others, he and his supporters have been subdued by the people after the first phase (of polling). The support that we are getting has silenced BJP leaders."

Jalaun will vote on February 20 in the third phase.

In the first and second phases, polling was held in 113 seats, while in the third phase, 56 assembly constituencies will vote.

Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are being held in seven phases.

Accusing the BJP dispensation of not fulfilling its poll promises of doubling the income of farmers and employment, the SP president said, "If anything has doubled under the double engine government, it is corruption and inflation.