Conspiracy to tarnish the Opposition through social media, alleges Akhilesh Yadav

He also attacked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over his remarks on how India has been performing better than Pakistan.

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday alleged that a coordinated campaign is being launched through social media and websites nourished by those in power, with an aim to tarnish the image of Opposition parties.

Mr. Yadav described it as a conspiracy to weaken Indian democracy and sought an inquiry into it. “Giving money to websites, Facebook pages and other social media [platforms] to tarnish the image of Opposition parties is a democratic conspiracy nourished by those in power. There should be a thorough investigation and a criminal case should be registered against the conspirators,” the SP chief tweeted in Hindi.

He also attacked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over his remarks on how India has been performing better than Pakistan, saying comparison should always be done with someone better. “Reference: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister is talking about being better than Pakistan. The golden rule of comparison: Comparison should always be done with someone who is better than you,” added the SP leader, who served as the CM of the State between March 2012 and March 2017.

Addressing a function on Friday along with Home Minister Amit Shah in Azamgarh, Mr. Adityanath had claimed that while India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visionary leadership is providing free ration to over 800 million people, the people in the neighbouring country were struggling to get two meals a day.

The U.P. CM, without taking the name of any party, added that some people wanted India to become like Pakistan. “The population of India is 140 crore. Since the last three years, our government has been giving free ration to 80 crore people. On the other hand, the population of Pakistan is 22 crore and it has been facing severe food scarcity. Good leadership takes the responsibility of raising the standard of living of its citizens, their prosperity and their security, while standing with them in their happiness and sorrow. But corrupt, divisive and discriminatory leadership creates a situation like the one in Pakistan,” Mr. Adityanath further said.