Launching his campaign for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on Friday attacked the double-engine government of the BJP accusing it of failure on all fronts.

Addressing an election rally in the Puranpur tehsil in the Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency, Yadav claimed that the BJP leaders are nervous about the prospects of defeat in the elections.”The faces of all the BJP leaders are turning pale after hearing the name of Pilibhit. This is because the people here have made up their mind to make the SP victorious with a historic mandate this time.

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Referring to the farmers’ movement, the SP chief said the three black laws the BJP had brought had to be withdrawn for fear of the farmers. The government has given prominence to those who are attacking the farmers in a bid to crush their movement.

In an indirect reference to Varun Gandhi, he said the political leaders and farmers who were talking about the movement were not even getting a place on the stage.

Taking a dig at BJP candidate and UP PWD Minister Jitin Prasada, he said, “A new candidate has come in Pilibhit who is saying if he had known earlier that he had to contest the elections from here, he would have converted Pilibhit into Mumbai.”

“We say do not make it (Pilibhit) Mumbai. Mumbai is the economic capital of the country. There is also dancing and singing there. Does the minister want Pilibhit to be like this,” he asked.

Pointing out that more than Rs 40,000 crore was spent on making the roads pothole-free in the state, the former UP chief minister said there are several roads where potholes still exist.

Taking on the BJP on corruption, Akhilesh Yadav raised the issue of electoral bonds. He said, “The government has extorted money from a company that has no business. Electoral bonds turned black into white. The same thing was done through demonetisation. There is inflation in the country because of the amount of money collected by this government and the industrialists from whom money was collected are now earning profits.”

Before the SP chief, SP candidate from Pilibhit Lok Sabha seat Bhagwat Saran Gangwar addressed the public meeting seeking votes from the public.