BJP is 'plotting' to retire Rajnath Singh: Akhilesh Yadav

A day after Poonam Sinha, wife of actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha joined Samajwadi Party, chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said she will contest from Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow where ruling BJP has fielded Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Welcoming Poonam Sinha into the party fold Akhilesh Yadav appealed to voters to back her."The first phase of voting is over and tomorrow the second will be over tomorrow. We are fighting the elections based on the work we (SP-BSP) did during our rule in the state, we will fight the elections in Lucknow based on the work I did in the area. Poonam Sinha has been given the ticket from SP and he (Shatrughan Sinha) will definitely come and campaign in Lucknow for SP."

Poonam Sinha also said that her husband will campaign solely for the 'cycle', the election symbol of Samajwadi Party. Shatrughan Sinha who very recently joined the Congress after a long association with the BJP.

Taking a dig at the BJP, the former Uttar Pradesh CM said that BJP is planning to retire Rajnath Singh which will further hamper the growth and development of Uttar Pradesh.

"They are planning to retire him, take my word. The person who had launched BJP's manifesto in 2014 (L K Advani) has not been given the party's ticket and this time they have made him (Rajnath Singh) read it at the release. This is a well-planned move by the BJP, they are plotting against him," Akhilesh said.

Speaking on the topic of Azam Khan's controversial statement on Jaya Prada, he said, "Samajwadi Party has always respected women, when we were in our power we did everything we could to ensure their safety. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has a habit of diverting the voters from the main issue during elections, this is a classic case. They won't talk about expressways now but they have highlighted one word from Azam Khan's speech."

"It is said that the first MP from here was a woman" Akhilesh said

MP Dimple Yadav, wife of Akhilesh who was also present at the press meet added, "Any such comments against a woman are not acceptable but why was the media silent when such statements were made by BJP leader Dayashankar Singh against Mayawati. Such things have been spoken against Priyanka Gandhi and us too in the past."

Elections in Uttar Pradesh are being held in all seven phases from April 11 to May 19. Lucknow is among the 13 other Lok Sabha constituencies of Uttar Pradesh that will vote in the fifth phase on May 6. The counting of votes will begin on May 23.