Lucknow, Apr 13 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Sunday accused Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav of “suffering from the disease of telling half-truths”.

Maurya’s comment comes a day after Akhilesh claimed that it was voters of Etawah who had sent Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram to the Lok Sabha.

“Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav is suffering from the disease of telling half-truths. The truth is that if Netaji (Akhilesh’s father Mulayam Singh Yadav) helped Kanshi Ram in Etawah in the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, Kanshi Ram also helped Netaji win by not fielding a BSP candidate from Jaswantnagar. But the bigger dark truth of Samajwadi Party is that on June 2, 1995, its goons tried to murder and dishonour the biggest leader of Dalits, Mayawati, at the state guest house in Lucknow,” Maurya said in an X post in Hindi on Sunday.

“But the BJP, always dedicated to respecting Dalits, saved both the honour and life of Mayawati by foiling the plans of Samajwadi Party goons,” he said, adding, “Similarly, Akhilesh is still proud of his army of pet goons. Samajwadi Party is the real enemy of the backward, Dalits and the deprived.” Akhilesh Yadav had on Saturday sought to woo Dalit voters in Etawah by mentioning Kanshi Ram, who won first from the constituency.

“It was voters of this place who had sent Kanshi Ram, founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), to the Lok Sabha. He was unable to win from any seat. It is recorded in history that it was Netaji and the samajwadis who campaigned for Kanshi Ram ji,” he said.

Kanshi Ram was elected as Lok Sabha MP from Etawah in 1991 on a BSP ticket.

Mulayam Singh Yadav represented Jaswantnagar assembly constituency as Lok Dal MLA in 1985, from the Janata Dal in 1989, Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) in 1991 and as Samajwadi Party MLA in 1993. PTI NAV RUK RUK