Kannauj: Union Home Minister Amit Shah tore into Akhilesh Yadav for not visiting Kannauj during the pandemic and for asking people not to get vaccinated since the vaccines were made under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
"You have been voting for Mulayam Singh's family for years. This is such a family that does not visit the place when it wins or even when it loses. Did Akhilesh or Dimple come to Kanauj during the pandemic? Our Subrat Pathak was here," Shah said in Uttar Pradesh's Kanauj while campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party's sitting MP Subrat Pathak.
Taking a jibe at Yadav for allegedly provoking people not to get vaccinated, Shah said that it is fortunate that no one in Uttar Pradesh followed his advice, got their doses and were saved from the virus.
"Have you all got vaccinated? PM Modi has ensured vaccination for everyone and got the country rid of Covid. When Corona vaccines were being administered, Akhilesh Yadav gave a statement urging people not to get vaccinated because this is PM Modi's vaccine. It is good that no one listens to Akhilesh in UP or in Kannauj," the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said.
Continuing with his attack on Yadav, Shah said, "All of you got vaccinated and were saved. But when Akhilesh saw that everyone in the country had been vaccinated, he got vaccinated as well along with Dimple at night."
Shah said that if the people of Uttar Pradesh had trusted Yadav and refused vaccination, there would have been heaps of dead bodies in the state.
"Shame on you Akhilesh! You do politics during a pandemic like Covid. If Uttar Pradesh had trusted you there would have been heaps of dead bodies. It was Narendra Modi who saved Uttar Pradesh and the country from the pandemic," he said.
Shah also claimed that the Yadav family declined the invitation of the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha event at Ayodhya in the fear that they would be losing their "vote bank".
"Wasn't Ram Mandir supposed to be constructed? For 500 years, Ram Lalla had no home. The SP-BSP-Congress was stopping the Ram Mandir. You voted for PM Modi for the second time and PM Modi won the case, performed bhoomipujan, pran pratishtha and inaugurated the temple chanting 'Jai Shree Ram'," the Union Home Minister said.
"When the Yadav family got the invite for the Ram Temple, they did not go because they fear losing their vote bank. Do you know who their vote bank is? The BJP does not fear vote bank. You are our vote bank," he added.
Shah said that under Prime Minister Narednra Modi's leadership, the Kashi Vishwanath temple was also reconstructed, which was allegedly razed by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
"PM Modi has also reconstructed the Kashi Vishwanath Temple that was demolished by Aurangzeb...," the senior BJP leader said.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting from Kannauj in the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress has not fielded any candidate from the constituency as per the seat-sharing agreement with Samajwadi Party, its INDIA bloc partner. The Bahujan Samaj Party which is not in alliance with any other party has fielded Imran Bin Zafar from Kannauj. —ANI