Lucknow: BJP’s PM candidate Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, on Tuesday, were locked in what can be called a ‘big cat fight.’
Mr Narendra Modi mocked at Mr Akhilesh Yadav at a rally in Bareilly on Tuesday and said, “Your Chief Minister asked us for lions and we gave the same to him. We thought that he would get some ‘dum’ (strength), but he could not even handle the Gujarati lions and had to keep them in cages. The Mulayam Singh Yadav family should come to Gir forests to see how we handle the lions there.”
In Lucknow, Mr Akhilesh Yadav responded to Mr Modi’s comments and said, “If he gave us lions, we gave them hyenas too. There are many other animals which have been sent to Gujarat from here. Besides, the cage for lions that Mr Modi talks about is actually a 3,000 acre Lion safari in Etawah and the lions will be shifted there very soon,” he said.
Mr Yadav said that such statements were not required from Mr Modi since the lions were given to UP as a political courtesy.
The CM said that the lions are presently at the Lucknow and said that he had visited the Lucknow zoo to see the Gujarat lions where they are presently kept. “They welcomed me twice by roaring loudly. I do not understand animal language so I asked the forest and zoo officials and they said that the lions were thanking me for bringing them here,” he said with a laugh.
BJP sees conspiracy in Modi’s copter delay
New Delhi: Alleging a conspiracy in the delay in its PM candidate Narendra Modi’s helicopter take-off from Delhi for Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP on Tuesday approached the Election Commission on the issue.
But aviation authorities have said the main reason for the delay was that his private charter aircraft did not have the air defence clearances needed at the air force station in Bareilly, according to news agency reports.
Bareilly is a IAF base under and hence all civilian aircraft require air defence clearances. According to reports, the charter company, which was based in Ahmedabad, was filing flight plans just minutes before actual take off, which was causing the delays.
