Lucknow, Dec 18 (PTI) After Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh of shielding culprits in the codeine syrup case, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Thursday alleged that Yadav was “completely misled” and driven by “lust for power”.
Reacting to Yadav’s repeated references to PDA (picche, Dalit and alpsankhyak (backward, Dalit and minorities), Pathak said the term, in fact, stood for “personal development association” and not what the SP leader claimed.
“Despite seeing the truth, Akhilesh Yadav cannot speak the truth because his hunger for the chair compels him to lie,” the deputy chief minister said.
Dismissing questions raised over the air quality index (AQI), he said the air quality readings were taken through the sensors installed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and IITs, in which the state government had no role or interference.
On the use of bulldozers, Pathak said more than 68,000 acres of government land were freed from land mafias.
In a press conference earlier in the day, Yadav alleged that a massive scam involving the illegal supply of codeine-based cough syrups running into thousands of crores originated in UP and accused the BJP government of shielding those involved.
Yadav said that the racket started from the “area of Pradhan Sansad” (Varanasi MP), targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Criticising the state government’s law enforcement approach, the former chief minister said that bulldozers are usually deployed swiftly in high-profile cases, but in this instance, the action appeared “missing”.
“It seems the driver of the government’s bulldozer has fled and the key is lost,” he remarked. PTI ABN ABN MNK MNK
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