Akhilesh Yadav perturbed after SP Singh Baghel fielded against him, says Union Minister Piyush Goyal

Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that the Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is perturbed that the Minister of State for Law and Justice SP Singh Baghel is being fielded against him in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. His remarks came after Baghel's convoy was attacked with stones and sticks in the Mainpuri district of the state.

"They (SP) have shown their reality again. I think Akhilesh Yadav is perturbed after SP Singh Baghel was fielded against him," he said while addressing the audience at 'Prabudh Jan Vichar' in Lucknow. Goyal also said that Union Minister Anurag Thakur has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India in this connection.

Baghel's convoy was attacked with stones and sticks near Attikullapur village in Manipuri district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday evening. The Minister was accorded the Z category security on February 11, said the MHA sources. Union Minister Anurag Thakur and other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders on Wednesday filed a complaint with Election Commission over an alleged attack against Union Minister SP Singh Baghel.

Baghel is the BJP candidate from the Karhal Assembly seat, from where Samajwadi party president Akhilesh Yadav is also contesting the Uttar Pradesh assembly election. The Minister said that the 'mafia-raj' and criminal activities seen in the state before 2017 had created an atmosphere of fear among all. "It never let UP become a development state. It stayed a 'Bimaru' (diseased) state. People were subjected to atrocities. It was the calling card of SP," he added.

Goyal said that the BJP government in the state had changed the economic and law and order situation in the state in the last five years which has given people excitement and confidence in their lives. The seven-phase Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections commenced on February 10. The first two phases of the elections have been completed. The third phase will be on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.