SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in Azamgarh on Wednesday.

Photo courtesy: Akhilesh’s Twitter page SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in Azamgarh on Wednesday.Photo courtesy: Akhilesh’s Twitter page

Following a revelation under the RTI Act that several recipients of the state government’s lucrative Yash Bharti awards between 2012 and 2017 were linked to the Samajwadi Party, former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who was in power at the time, on Wednesday said that the present BJP government should award those close to it as well.

He also said that the pension component of the award, which is Rs 50,000, apart from a one-time reward of Rs 11 lakh, could even be doubled by the present dispensation. “Aap bhi apne khaas logon ko de do…hum kaun sa aapko rok rahe hain,” said Akhilesh.

The SP chief further claimed that most of the children who died in the recent Gorakhpur tragedy were Hindus and asked the government to explain how many they had helped.

At a public meeting at Nathupur village, Azamgarh, where he unveiled the statue of Kargil martyr Ram Samujh Yadav, Akhilesh said that the first recipient of the award, introduced during the regime of his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, was Amitabh Bachchan and that it has been given to those who have made contributions in their respective fields, including singer Chhannulal Mishra, one of the proposers of the Lok Sabha nomination filed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi.

“Keh rahe hain ki jo samman diya hai usme Samajwadi logon ne kuchh apne khaas logon ko de diya (It is being said that the Samajwadi people gave the honour to those close to them),” he said, adding, “Hum to kehte hain ki aapki sarkar hai, aap bhi apne khaas logon ko de do, hum kaun sa aapko rok rahe hai…. aapki to Delhi mein bhi, Uttar Pradesh mein bhi sarkar hai. Aap humse jyada pension dijiye…1 lakh pension dene ka kaam karo (It is your government, you too can give it to those close to you, we never stopped you. You not only have a government in UP, but in Delhi too. You can give more pension, you can give Rs 1 lakh as pension).” The SP chief further said that though some names appear in the newspaper, he asked why names of Army personnel — who have received the Yash Bharti award — do not come.

Challenging BJP leaders including CM, Yogi Adityanath to contest the general election rather than taking the Upper House route, Akhilesh said that recently, in a Cabinet decision, Saifai Sports College was renamed after Dhyan Chand, but the present government had “stopped” the Yash Bharti pension given by his government to the hockey player’s son. He even challenged Adityanath to a hockey match, and said, “Bura na manna agar hum Gorakhpur mein kisi cheej ka naam badal dein…jo bo-oage wahi katoge (Don’t mind when we change names in Gorakhpur. What you sow, you shall reap).”

Targeting the Yogi government on the deaths of children in Gorakhpur, the former CM said, “Hum Samajwadi log agar kisi ki madad karte they to aap dekhte they ki hindu hai ki Musalman hai. Hum pe aarop lagate they ki aap Hindu ki kam madad karte ho, Musalman ki jyada madad kar di.. Hum kehte hain ki Gorakhpur mein bachchey Hindu jyada mare hain, batao aapne kitno ki madad ki hai (When Samajwadi people used to help anyone, you used to accuse us of helping Muslims more than Hindus. In Gorakhpur, more Hindu children have died. Tell us, how many have you helped?).”

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