From ‘one district, one mafia’ to ‘one district, one product’: Nitin Nabin’s jibe at Akhilesh Yadav over Azam Khan

New Delhi: Targeting Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over his allegations that senior party leader Azam Khan is being targeted by the Uttar Pradesh government, BJP President Nitin Nabin on Saturday accused the SP leadership of pursuing vote-bank politics by standing with people associated with criminal elements.

In an exclusive interaction with IANS, Nitin Nabin said the Samajwadi Party had given Uttar Pradesh the identity of ‘one district, one mafia’ during its tenure, alleging that strongmen in different districts were used to acquire and retain political power.

“These are the same people who gave Uttar Pradesh the identity of ‘One District, One Mafia’. During the Samajwadi Party government, every district had a strongman, and they used these figures to gain and maintain power,” Nitin Nabin said, responding to Akhilesh Yadav's claims of injustice against Azam Khan.

Defending the Yogi Adityanath government’s action against criminal elements, the BJP chief said those who had operated from the corridors of power for years were now being brought to justice.

He accused Akhilesh Yadav of continuing to support and protect such people because of vote-bank considerations.

“Now here we talk about ‘one district, one product’ rather than ‘one district, one mafia’," Nitin Nabin said, asserting that Uttar Pradesh was moving towards becoming an ‘Uttam Pradesh’.

On the proposed Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Nitin Nabin dismissed it as an electoral arrangement lacking public confidence.

"People don't have faith in such 'jugalbandi' (alliance). The public knows that these two so-called 'Yuvraj' (princes) only think about themselves and their families and are not at all concerned about the people of Uttar Pradesh," he said, referring to Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav.

The BJP chief also expressed confidence in the party's prospects, claiming that the implementation of Central government schemes and improved law and order under the double-engine government had strengthened public confidence in the BJP.

Turning to the Opposition's protests, Nitin Nabin accused Rahul Gandhi of being used as an instrument of a foreign-backed 'toolkit' to destabilise the country and create anarchy.

He also targeted those associated with what he termed the 'tukde-tukde gang', saying India's youth remained committed to development, national security and the country's cultural heritage.

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