Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in the state of misusing its power to acquire land for the Noida International Airport at Jewar.
His criticism came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the airport and accused the previous SP government of using Noida as an “ATM”.
On Sunday, at a rally at Mihir Bhoj College in Dadri, Yadav said six of the seven airports recently inaugurated by the BJP government in UP have already shut down. “They should also tell people when they will sell this airport.”
He called on farmers to “teach the BJP a lesson”, alleging, “The BJP misused the power to inaugurate an airport for which they acquired the land from farmers not only at the market rate but at a rate that is far less than prevailing in the market. Once we will come to power, we will pay the farmers higher rates for land to be acquired by any government project.”
Yadav further said, “They mocked me at the inauguration saying I do not visit Noida. They must understand that I have come here to have tea with my people more than they have.”
In response, Jewar MLA and BJP leader Dhirendra Singh questioned the former CM’s allegations on the land compensation paid to farmers. “It was his (Akhilesh) government in 2016 that excluded Jewar from rural zone to take the lands at cheap rate. Had in not done that in 2016, the farmers would have become eligible for more money against their land for airport. He must avoid comments mocking such an international-level airport project, which are not in good humour at all.”