Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath likened Samajwadi Party president and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb referring to the bitter fallout in the Yadav family.
Speaking at an event in Lucknow, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said that a man who did not stay loyal to his own father and uncle talks of bringing the people together with him.
“He who couldn’t remain loyal to his own father and uncle is talking about linking himself with you (people). An interesting character in history imprisoned his father. This is why Muslims don’t name their children after Aurangzeb. Something similar has been associated with the Samajwadi Party,” the CM said in Hindi.
The highly-controversial sixth Mughal emperor is one of the most hated in India’s history due to his atrocities on his own family members as well as treatment of Hindu subjects. Aurangzeb is known to have imprisoned his father – the fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan – and killed his brothers in a battle for the throne.
Adityanath’s scathing attack comes a day after Yadav claimed that the BJP leader will not remain UP Chief Minister in 2019.
At an event on Thursday, Yadav said that there was a struggle for power within the BJP. According to reports, the former UP CM claimed that deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya may be appointed in 2019.
He also accused the BJP of disrespecting teachers, farmers, youth, and dividing the society along caste and religious lines.