'Heard that 'Maurya ji mohre hain...' Akhilesh Yadav targets Keshav Maurya amid speculations of rift in UP BJP, deputy CM calls him ' Congress pawn'

Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regarding the rumored internal conflict within its Uttar Pradesh unit, PTI reported.

Speaking to reporters in Lucknow, Yadav said that he had heard UP's deputy chief minister, Keshav Prasad Maurya, is a "pawn." In response, Maurya called Yadav a "pawn of Congress."

Yadav made these remarks while speaking to reporters after unveiling a 'Samvidhan-Manstambh' at the SP headquarters in Lucknow. He also criticized the Yogi Adityanath government for corruption in the state.

"The government used to claim that there is a zero-tolerance policy, especially on corruption and law and order. But now their leaders themselves are saying we have not seen such corruption in our political life," Yadav said, pointing to a statement made by a former state minister, who later backtracked.

"Corruption is being exposed because some people have become pawns," Yadav said.

"I heard that 'Maurya ji mohre hain' (deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya is a pawn), a password to Delhi's Wi-Fi," Yadav added, suggesting Maurya's closeness to the central BJP leadership, according to PTI.

Maurya was quick to give it back to Yadav. He called him a “Congress' pawn” and urged him to save his party from extinction.

“Samajwadi Party leader Shree Akhilesh Yadav ji, who has become a pawn of the Congress, should focus on saving the SP from extinction rather than harbouring misconceptions about the BJP, targeting the backward sections and insulting them,” Maurya wrote on X.

"The BJP will repeat the 2017 (state assembly poll performance) in 2027. The lotus (the BJP's poll symbol) has bloomed and will continue to bloom," he added.

The exchange happened amid rumors of a rift between the Yogi Adityanath-led government and the BJP.

The BJP's poor performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh highlighted alleged issues between the party organization and the state government. The June 4 poll results reduced the BJP's tally in Uttar Pradesh from 62 MPs in 2019 to 33 MPs.

As the review of the poll results started, party workers accused the government of ignoring them.

During the BJP’s state executive committee meeting in Lucknow on July 14, Keshav Prasad Maurya claimed that the party organization is more important than the government. At the same meeting, Yogi Adityanath said that overconfidence was a reason for the party's poor performance.

Maurya, who missed several state cabinet meetings due to rumored disagreements with the chief minister, also met with BJP president J.P. Nadda in New Delhi.