Lucknow, Jun 3 (IANS): The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has termed the Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav's criticism of the state's Covid management as "a figment of his imagination" and termed him as a 'Twitter Neta'.
UP government spokesperson and MSME minister Sidharth Nath Singh said that Akhilesh's statements are typical of a leader who does his politics from air-conditioned comfort of his drawing room without interacting with people.
"It is unfortunate that Yadav, perched on an ivory tower, did not bother to mention even one of many pro-people steps taken by the Yogi Adityanath government. Instead, he unsuccessfully tried to run down the popular government," Singh said.
He added that Yadav should display maturity.
"Tweeting from his drawing room is an easy, but to become a mass leader, one needs to step out. Yogi Adityanath not only went to the people during Covid, but all through his tenure. It is no wonder that Samajwadi Party was dumped by people in 2017. This time too, people will not back SP, whose political mainstay has been 'parivarwad'," he said.
Singh's diatribe follows the barrage of accusations by the SP chief against the UP government for mishandling the pandemic, leading to deaths.
The minister said that from his first day in office, Yogi Adityanath has worked for welfare of farmers, women and the underprivileged. The Rs 36,000 crore farmer loan waiver was the first step which showed the intentions of the Yogi government, he said, adding that development in form of expressways, airports, houses for the poor and a conducive environment for industry were some of the proactive measures taken for the welfare of the state.
"Leaders who based their entire politics on Twitter without stepping out to help humanity in the time of crisis, are raising questions of the Chief Minister who is always on ground with the people and for the people," he stated.
The UP Minister further said that what the 'double engine' BJP government did during the last four and half years was for everyone to see and admire.