Yogi Adityanath,
the Uttar Pradesh chief minister leading the BJP’s Assembly polls charge, reiterated that the upcoming elections will see an 80:20 competition with BJP
winning 80% seats. Adityanath made the remark after filing his nomination from
Gorakhpur.

The 80:20 calculation
is often used by Yogi Adityanath to explain BJP’s sway over the population of
India’s biggest state. Nearly 20% of UP’s population comprises Muslims.

The 49-year-old
BJP leader said, “The ‘double-engine’ government will win with majority because
women, children and people from all sections have benefitted from this
government.”  

The “double-engine”
has been the BJP’s political appeal in state polls since it came to power in
the Union government in 2014.

The chief minister,
speaking at an interview with News18, also condemned the attack on AIMIM MP
Asaduddin Owaisi’s vehicle. “In a democracy, we believe in the ballot and not
the bullet. This kind of incident is intolerable and unacceptable,” the UP CM
said.

Owaisi, an MP from
Hyderabad who self-identifies as a representative of Indian Muslims, was fired
at while travelling in course of campaign rallies on Thursday. Following the
attack, the government offered him Z-category security, the second-highest
security category.

Owaisi turned down
the government’s offer on Saturday.

“I don’t want Z
category security, I want to be an A-category citizen, at par with you all. Why
was UAPA not invoked against those who fired at me?” Owaisi said.

The Uttar Pradesh
chief minister also slammed the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party in course of
the interview. He said Yadav’s party was only Samajwadi in name and accused SP
of being riotous and nepotistic. The Samajwadi Party is the principle challenger
to BJP in the UP polls.

The Kairana “exodus”
also featured in Adityanath’s remarks. He said the people will never “forgive
SP for the Kairana exodus.” The Kairana exodus is a reference to the apparent
mass migration of Hindus from Kairana town of Shamli district in western Uttar
Pradesh.