Yogi govt tapping SP leaders phones, alleges Akhilesh Yadav

A day after four of his close associates were raided by Income Tax officials, Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday alleged that phones of his party leaders and the landline numbers of his office were being tapped. "Chief Minister listens to the recordings every evening," he said.

Regarding the raids, he said they were an indication that the BJP was going to lose the election. The income tax department conducted a series of raids on SP leaders including Akhilesh's private secretary Gajendra Yadav, spokesperson Rajeev Rai, party leader Manoj Yadav and a friend and businessman Rahul Bhasin, on Saturday.

He further slammed Yogi Adityanath saying that the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was "unupoyogi" (unsuitable/useless). Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that 'UPYogi' is equal to 'upyogi' (suitable).

The BJP has started working on the script handed down by the Congress when they were in power, Akhilesh said. Their tactics will increase as the elections get closer, he noted. Though the BJP had deployed similar tactics in the West Bengal elections held earlier this year, it yielded no results, he said.

"Abhi to Income Tax Department aaya hai, Enforcement Directorate aayega, CBI aayega (Right now, now the tax department has come... the Enforcement Directorate will and the CBI will join soon). ut the cycle (the Samajwadi Party's poll symbol) will not stop," Akhilesh added.

Akhilesh warned that he was aware of the officers who are playing dirty tricks. He would deal with them appropriately when he comes to power, he added.