Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has said that the first phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh was a farmers' election and would set the momentum for the remaining phases.Addressing a joint press conference with Rashtriya Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary, the SP chief said that it was late Chaudhary Charan Singh who had awakened the farmers."This is an election between 'bhaichara' and BJP which is running a negative campaign. People do not want negativity and prefer to live in peace with their brothers," he said.Talking about the budget, Akhilesh said that the BJP excelled in word play. "They have called it a 'Amrit Kaal budget'. Does it mean that previous budgets were filled with poison? What is 'Amrit' in this budget and what have they done for the poor and weaker sections? Where are the jobs and how is the farmer's income being doubled?" he asked.
Rubbishing reports, Akhilesh underlined the fact that the alliance would continue and Jayant Chaudhary would get respect."The BJP is trying to create fear and misunderstanding but they will not succeed. We will work together and fulfil all promises that we have made," he stated.Asked to comment on chief minister Yogi Adityanath's statement that he would take the 'garmi' out of some people in Kairana and Shamli and make them cold like Shimla, Akhilesh said, "Is this the kind of language used by a chief minister. The Election Commission should take note of it."He promised to improve the sports infrastructure in the state and revive the old pension scheme when voted to power.Replying to a question on migration from Kairana, the SP leader said, "More than 1000 villages in Uttarakhand are lying empty because families have migrated. Will the BJP answer this?"Meanwhile, Jayant Chaudhary said that the BJP wanted to create a religious divide and was using 'Jinnah, Aurangzeb and Pakistan' to vitiate the atmosphere. He appealed to the people to vote for development and shun such politics that divides them.