Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on July 19 ridiculed Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav’s monsoon offer as “day dreams”, and described the principal Opposition party in the State a “sinking ship”.
Mr. Maurya also predicted a 2017-like defeat for the SP against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming 2027 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election. “In 2027, the people and BJP workers will again bring the SP’s monsoon offer to 47. It is a sinking ship and a dying party with an uncertain present and future. He [Mr. Yadav] may see Mungerilal ke haseen sapne but his day dreams will not be fulfilled. We will repeat our success in 2017 once more in 2027 and ensure that the ‘Lotus’ comes back to power,” the U.P. Deputy CM wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
His call back to the 2017 election outcome was a reference to the BJP’s then win of 312 seats of a total 403 in the U.P. Assembly. The SP, under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav, had won only 47 seats that year.
Mr. Maurya’s comment came a day after the SP president, in a cryptic post, made the monsoon “offer” amid the speculation of a ‘rift’ within the Uttar Pradesh unit of the ruling BJP. “Monsoon offer: sau lau, sarkar bano. [bring 100, form government],” Mr. Yadav, posted on X.
The short post appeared to be a mnemonic for Mr. Yadav’s 2022 “offer” to Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. At the time, Mr. Yadav had said that if “he [Mr. Maurya] brings 100 MLAs, the SP will support him for the CM post.”
