Yogi Adityanath takes potshots at Akhilesh-Shivpal reunion

Lucknow: Taking potshots at the coming together of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav after prolonged bickering, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday referred to the duo many times during his speech in the state assembly and said it would be difficult for the six-time "legislator uncle" to return to the House next time.

The popular "chacha-bhatija" duo was sitting in the front row of the opposition bench.

"Between 2012 and 2017, the people of the state were victimised by the rivalry between the uncle and the nephew. Because the nephew feared that the uncle would become dominant, he withheld financial assistance. This is the reason why eight projects were completed between 2012 and 2017.

"Between 2017 and 2022, we have completed 20 projects. The irrigation capacity was 1,95,900 hectares from 2012 to 2017, and between 2017 and 2022, irrigation was expanded to cover 23,17,000 hectares, benefiting 44 lakh farmers," Adityanath said in his hour-long speech on flood and drought situation in the state.

The Uttar Pradesh Assembly will see the next polls in 2027. 

The chief minister also mockingly referred to Shivpal for not teaching him about the ground situation to his foreign educated nephew (Akhilesh).

The warring uncle and the nephew reunited before Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypoll last year after the demise of Samjawadi Party (SP) patriarh Mulayam Singh Yadav. Their coming together saw a comfortable victory for Dimple Yadav in the by-election.

Shivpal Yadav showed a cryptic smile when Adityanath pointed towards him during the course of his speech.

He is serving as a sixth time MLA from Jaswantnagar in Etawah district.