Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav hit back at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday, questioning the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s inconsistency after Adityanath accused the SP of enabling real estate developer Ansal Group’s alleged malpractices during its tenure.

The rebuttal follows a police case filed on Tuesday against Ansal Group for charges including cheating, criminal conspiracy, and organized crime. The action came after Adityanath directed officials to protect homebuyers and crack down on the firm, which has been declared insolvent. During a state assembly budget discussion, Adityanath claimed, “Ansal was a product of the SP. Its illegal activities flourished under their rule, betraying investors and homebuyers.”

Yadav fired back, accusing the BJP of hypocrisy. In a post on X, he wrote, “If everything was wrong, why did you inaugurate projects there instead of sending a bulldozer?” He pointed out that Adityanath had attended the opening of Lulu Mall in Ansal’s Golf City, hosted G20 delegates at a hotel in the same complex, and that a cancer hospital operates within it. A video shared by Yadav purportedly shows the CM at the mall’s launch, underscoring his argument.

The SP chief argued that the BJP’s accusations were a tactic to deflect from its own governance failures. “They name others to hide their shortcomings, forgetting they celebrated billions in investments at these sites,” he said. Yadav warned that targeting companies like Ansal would deter investors and stall Uttar Pradesh’s progress, adding, “Such actions neither attract investment nor build a future.”

Taking a dig at the ruling party, Yadav suggested their attacks stemmed from insecurity over losing power. “Success brings calm leadership; failure breeds visible desperation,” he remarked.

The Ansal Group controversy has reignited the political rivalry between the SP and BJP, with Adityanath framing it as a legacy of SP’s misrule, while Yadav portrays it as evidence of BJP’s double standards.