LUCKNOW: Launching a blistering attack on the Samajwadi Party (SP) on Saturday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath accused the previous Akhilesh Yadav-led government of spending public funds on the construction of graveyard walls in the name of appeasement politics.While inaugurating and laying the foundation stones of 80 development projects worth Rs 305 crore in Deoria, Yogi alleged that SP stood for “plunder and extortion”.“SP is synonymous with a gang of dacoits,” he charged.The chief minister also took a swipe at SP president Akhilesh Yadav over the state government’s recently announced free bus travel initiative, claiming that the opposition had reacted without understanding the scheme.“When we launched free bus travel, the SP leadership hurriedly called a press conference. They became confused and started claiming that beneficiaries would be charged Rs 4 lakh or Rs 40,000. We had to clarify that the government is not taking money; it is providing support to the people,” he said.Without naming Yadav directly, Adityanath remarked that “those who wake up at noon” could only respond with irritation and frustration.Yogi also revived the political controversy surrounding the Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) in Lucknow, alleging large-scale financial irregularities during the previous SP regime. He claimed that the project’s original estimated cost was around Rs 200 crore, but expenditure eventually rose to Rs 864 crore while the project remained incomplete.“Even after spending Rs 864 crore, the project was not completed. The present government will have to spend another Rs 150-200 crore to finish it,” he said.Adityanath further alleged that the SP govt had planned to hand over the project to a private company linked to party leaders and route its revenues through it. He claimed that several prominent SP leaders were associated with the company.
