(Photo) Courtesy : NDTV
NEW DELHI: Former allies-turned-rivals Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhary have crossed swords. While SP chief Akhilesh Yadav took the first shot, Union Minister and RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary has now hit back.
The showdown in western UP politics is over Yadav’s “chavanni” (25 paise) jibe, which was seen as mocking Chaudhary.
Addressing an event recently, Yadav said, “Jaane kahan-kahan se aa gaye the log gathbandhan banane. Humne chavanni ka rupya bana diya tha, tab bhi humein chhod kar chale gaye wo (I don’t know from where all people came to form an alliance with us. We had increased their value from 25 paise to one full rupee, yet they left us and went away).”
He said several people had left the SP, but his party had resolved to “tie up with the public, establish social justice, trust the people, give them respect and the public will support us”.
While Yadav did not name anyone, it was seen as a reference to Chaudhary’s “chavanni” comment during the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election campaign, when he had rejected BJP overtures while being an SP ally, saying he was not a “chavanni” who could be “flipped” easily.
On Saturday, Chaudhary hit back at Akhilesh Yadav, saying that if he had to make “cheap” political remarks, he should have taken his name.
“If you had to use some cheap words, you could have at least said them taking my name,” Chaudhary posted on X in an apparent dig at Yadav’s statement.
The RLD has called Yadav’s comment an insult to the legacy of farmer leader Chaudhary Charan Singh and the Jat community ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls.
“Targeting the Jat community and saying we taught ABCD?” Jayant Chaudhary added in his post.
Without naming Yadav, he said that such “arrogance” only brings downfall.
“I’ve seen this arrogance up close and I believe such behaviour only brings downfall!” Chaudhary stated.
Akhilesh Yadav’s “chavanni” swipe has a political and historical context. The SP and RLD had fought the 2022 UP elections in alliance. The RLD contested 33 seats in western UP as part of the alliance and won eight. This was a big boost to the RLD after its disastrous 2017 performance when the party contested 277 seats across UP and won just one.
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