Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday took a dig at Union home minister Amit Shah over the BJP’s promise to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttar Pradesh if it returns to power, questioning why the move had taken so long.Responding to Shah’s announcement at a press conference, Akhilesh quipped, “Badi der kar di meherban aate-aate,” in a veiled swipe at the BJP for raising the issue after being in power in the state for two consecutive terms.When a journalist pointed out that the original Hindi film song Akhilesh referred to used the word ‘huzoor’ (master) instead of ‘meherban’ (gracious), the SP chief said, “Thank you for correcting me. But don’t make me say ‘huzoor’. ‘Meherban’ is fine.”In his witty retort, the SP chief appeared to question the timing of the BJP’s UCC promise, suggesting it was raising the issue only with the assembly elections approaching despite having governed Uttar Pradesh for two consecutive terms.He also accused UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday of securing the BJP’s victory in the Gorakhpur-Faizabad teachers’ constituency, allegedly at the cost of the party losing both MLC seats in the Varanasi region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency.Shah had earlier in the day announced at the BJP’s state working committee meeting in Lucknow that the party would implement the UCC in Uttar Pradesh if it returned to power after the assembly elections scheduled early next year.“Akhilesh Babu, mark my words, your party will not form the government in Uttar Pradesh for the next 30 years. The people will not forgive even your third generation,” Shah said.“This time, when the government comes to power, the UCC will be implemented in Uttar Pradesh. UCC has already been implemented in many states,” he said.In another pointed response, Yadav targeted the Yogi Adityanath government over its recently revised guidelines governing eligibility for government jobs, which bar candidates associated with organisations advocating a change in the “established social order” through violent means.
