Lucknow, Aug 9 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar on Sunday launched a sharp attack on Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav over Rahul Gandhi’s recent programme in Prayagraj, accusing him of failing to support his “elder brother” and claiming that the Congress leader’s rally drew far fewer people than expected.
In a post on X in Hindi (loosely translated), Rajbhar addressed Akhilesh Yadav as “brother of Rahul Gandhi” and questioned his commitment to the alliance, taking a dig at the SP chief over the reported crowd at Gandhi’s Prayagraj event.
“Good morning, Akhilesh Yadav ji, brother of Rahul Gandhi ji,” Rajbhar said.
“You’re going around calling yourself Rahul ji’s brother, but it seems like you don’t know how to uphold brotherhood. At least yesterday you could have fulfilled the duty of a younger brother,” he added.
Rajbhar claimed that Rahul Gandhi was in Prayagraj on Saturday expecting a sizeable gathering and alleged that Akhilesh Yadav did not provide adequate organisational support.
“Your elder brother Rahul Gandhi ji was in Prayagraj yesterday. He thought that if you sent your young goons, a crowd of 20-25 thousand would gather,” Rajbhar said.
“Poor Rahul Gandhi ji couldn’t even muster 5 thousand people. Why did you deceive him like that? You could have offered a little help. Your elder brother’s honour would have been saved,” he added.
Taking another swipe at the Congress-SP alliance, Rajbhar alleged that Akhilesh Yadav was more focused on asserting his party’s political bargaining position than supporting Gandhi’s programme.
“But no, you had to haggle with Rahul Gandhi ji. You had to assert the status of 200 seats,” the minister said.
Rajbhar further claimed that significant resources had been spent on the event but alleged that the turnout remained low.
“Rahul Gandhi ji spent 30 crore on yesterday’s flop show. His workers toiled for three months. Prayagraj was plastered with 20 thousand flags, banners, and posters. But only 5 thousand people showed up,” he said.
He also took a personal swipe at both leaders, describing Gandhi’s event as a “flop” and accusing Akhilesh Yadav of remaining away from the ground.
“The elder brother’s nighttime rally in the dark turned out to be a flop, and the younger brother isn’t stepping out from his AC room and Twitter. Now, both brothers sit together and divide up those two hundred seats,” Rajbhar said.
He ended his post with the slogans: “Jai Bharat, Jai Shri Ram, Jai Shri Krishna, Jai Maharaja Suhaldev.”
Rajbhar’s remarks come amid continuing political activity and alliance discussions among opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh, where the Congress and Samajwadi Party have been key constituents of the INDIA bloc.
–IANS
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