SP blames Kamal Nath's 'Akhilesh-Vakhilesh' comment for Cong rout in MP

Taking a dig at the Congress for its dismal show in the assembly polls, the Samajwadi Party on Sunday blamed grand old party leader Kamal Nath's "indecent statement" against its chief Akhilesh Yadav for the setback in Madhya Pradesh.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) has, however, indicated it will fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections along with the Congress under the banner of Opposition group 'INDIA'.

"Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath gave an indecent statement against the SP chief. He called the SP chief, who has been a four-time MP and the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh as 'Akhilesh-Vakhilesh' due to which not only Madhya Pradesh, but the people of Bahujan class and backward classes were hurt, and its adverse effect was reflected in the results, SP spokesperson Manoj Singh Yadav 'Kaka' told PTI on the Congress' lagging behind the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

Kaka said the SP chief is continuously fighting for social justice, but Nath did not utter a single word regarding social justice and caste census.

"This election result is the defeat of their ego," he added.

Kaka said that the SP was demanding five seats, but "they insulted our leaders".

"If you cannot give five seats to the backward classes then how will they get votes," said Kaka.

"Jab naash manuj par chhata hai, pehle vivek mar jaata hai (when destruction falls upon a man, the wisdom dies first), he added reciting the composition by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar.

The tension between the SP and the Congress escalated regarding ticket distribution earlier in October.

The SP chief had in a meeting held in Hardoi on October 20 asked the Congress to make its stand clear whether it will form an alliance with his party or not.

The Congress should not deceive the Samajwadi Party because it is the first party to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh and when the Congress needs it, the SP will be useful to it, he then said.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister's remarks came at a time when there were reports of a deadlock between the SP and the Congress due to lack of consensus on seat sharing in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections.

Nath, the Madhya Pradesh Congress chief, had refused to give even a single seat to the SP.

Livid over not being given a single seat in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, the SP chief had hinted that the Congress may get a similar treatment from his party in Uttar Pradesh.

After Yadav's displeasure, Congress' Uttar Pradesh unit president Ajay Rai had hit back and said that the SP cannot blame his party because it had released the list of its candidates before.

Rai added that the SP had strengthened the BJP by contesting the elections separately.

The SP announced its candidates for more than 30 seats for the elections held on November 17 for the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly.

The SP had won one seat (Bijawar in Bundelkhand region) in the 2018 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections in an alliance with the Adivasi Gondwana Gantantra Party securing 1.30 per cent votes and stood second on five seats.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary, while talking to PTI, took a soft stance towards the Congress.

"Both the Congress and the SP are fighting to save democracy and we are fighting to save our democracy. We will continue the fight," said the former Uttar Pradesh minister.

Targeting the BJP, he said the saffron party is a "threat to democracy".

"The way democracy is being hurt is not right," said Chaudhary when asked whether his party will contest the general elections next year with the Congress under the 'INDIA' alliance.