No vacancy for PM position till 2024: UP Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma

Lucknow: Taking a swipe at the Samajwadi Party, Deputy UP Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma said efforts made by Akhilesh Yadav to safeguard the political health of the SP are "failing" and his party is in dire need of a "political health tonic".

Sharma also dubbed the SP-BSP tie up as an "unnatural alliance, which will taste defeat similar to the one in 2017." "When a person is physically weak, he needs a (health) tonic. Similarly, when a political party become weak politically, it needs a political health tonic. If anybody needs it the most today, then it is the Samajwadi Party," Sharma told PTI in an interview.

Sharpening his attack on the SP, the Deputy Chief Minister said, "In 2017, UP Assembly elections they had aligned with the Congress, which was itself a weak party from the political point of view. They suffered a humiliating defeat in UP polls. Now, they have forged an alliance with the BSP, which had failed to open its account in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. I feel efforts made by Akhileshji to safeguard the political health (of his party) are failing."

Sharma said in order to regain the falling health of the party, the "SP chief should learn from developmental works done by the BJP, and elections should be contested on the basis on developmental activities". "Instead of resorting to divisive politics based on caste and sect, whose days are gone, time has come to repose faith in 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'," he said.

Sharma also took a jibe at Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha for his recent 'Jinnah' remarks. He said, "Objections were raised when flags of Muslim League were waved during nomination of Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad. Now, the way in which Shatrughan Sinha has eulogised Jinnah, make sit amply clear that this Congress is the 'Congress of Jinnah' and 'not the Congress of Mahatma Gandhi'. The leaders of the Congress must read the history of India's freedom struggle. This new Congress is ridiculing dreams of Mahatma Gandhi," he charged.

The Deputy Chief Minister said people can do anything, but "they should not at least associate themselves with enemies of the country". Referring to the SP-BSP-RLD alliance, Sharma said, "There is growing disappointment among SP, BSP and Congress after the first three phases of polls in the state.

In the 2017 UP Assembly elections, there was an alliance between two boys, and now one boy has been replaced with a bua. This new alliance is getting the external support from the other boy (apparently referring to Rahul Gandhi)." He also observed that this is "an unnatural alliance, which will taste defeat similar to the one in 2017."

Maintaining that there is "no vacancy for the Prime Minister's post till 2024", Sharma said, "It is laughable that those who are contesting on 10 seats, 37 or 38 Lok Sabha seats, are dreaming for the PM's post. To them, I want to say that there is no vacancy for the prime minister's post till 2024. In this era of no vacancy, the opposition will only face despair (hatasha) and disappointment (nirasha)."

The UP Deputy Chief Minister said leaders like Sharad Pawar, Chandrababu Naidu and Mayawati, who are eyeing the PM's post are unable to muster courage to contest polls.

Exuding confidence that the BJP will be winning more seats in the coming phases, Sharma said, "The way in which the opposition is crying foul over EVM malfunctioning, makes it clear that they (opposition) have got hint of defeat."