Adityanath govt using bulldozers to threaten opposition leaders: UP Cong chief

Bareilly (UP): Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai on Monday accused the BJP government of using bulldozers to threaten leaders of opposition parties and challenged the Adityanath dispensation to run the earthmoving vehicle on his house.

Rai also alleged that both the Modi government at the Centre and the Yogi Adityanath government in UP are repressive and that 'jungle raj' prevailed in the state.

"I will change the direction of the bulldozer with which opposition party leaders are being threatened. The BJP is also using ED and CBI against its opponents. I will not show my back even bullets are fired," he told reporters here.

"I challenge the government that if you want to run a bulldozer, then run it on my house...I am not afraid," the Congress leader said when asked about the use of bulldozers in the state.

Chief Minister Adityanath has earned the sobriquet of “bulldozer baba” due to his frequent reference of the heavy machine which his dispensation deployed to raze the ill-gotten property of criminals and mafias in the state.

Targeting the government, Rai said that 'jungle raj' has been established in the state where no one is safe.

He also alleged that the state government is working to create hatred among the people.

The Congress leader also offered prayers at Alakhnath temple, and then he went to Dargah Ala Hazrat.

Earlier, addressing Congress workers, Rai said, "If we want to see Rahul Gandhi as the prime minister of the country in 2024, the biggest responsibility lies with Uttar Pradesh. If we become weak, we will not be able to make him the prime minister." Rai said that for this the workers will have to work hard at the grassroots level.

He said the bond between the Congress and Amethi goes generations back and expressed confident that the people of Amethi will ensure Rahul Gandhi's victory this time.

“I have come from the city of Mahadev (Varanasi). People of all religions are equal," he said.

Rai was the Congress candidate against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2014 and 2019 general elections in Varanasi parliamentary constituency.

After becoming the state president, he visited Bareilly for the first time.