'Star divider' to campaign for Bihar polls: Akhilesh targets UP CM Adityanath

In a veiled attack on Yogi Adityanath, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister was going to Bihar not as a star campaigner of the BJP but as a "star divider", and that people would not accept "communal figures".

The BJP has named Adityanath as one of its star campaigners for Bihar, where Assembly elections will be held in two phases on November 6 and 11.

"He has gone to Bihar not as a star campaigner but as a star divider. The people of Bihar will not accept him. People can never accept communal figures," Yadav said, alluding to Adityanath at a press conference at the SP headquarters here.

The BJP is following the policy of "divide and rule" because it is scared of PDA, he claimed.

PDA, an acronym coined by the SP, stands for Pichhda (backward classes), Dalit and Alpsankhyak (minorities).

Yadav also criticised the state government over worsening traffic and civic conditions in Uttar Pradesh's cities.

"Under the smart city project, countless meetings were held at the chief minister's level, yet every city is stuck in traffic. Where is all the funding for building smart cities going? Visit any city and you will see congestion everywhere," the former Chief Minister said.