Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday took to Twitter in an apparent bid to pinprick Prime Minister Narendra Modi, tagging him in a tweet that talked about the popular laptop scheme of the UP government, and cheekily remarking that he was fulfilling Modi’s dream of Digital India.
“Have distributed 18 lakh laptops to meritorious students in Uttar Pradesh. Fulfilling your dream of #Digital India @narendramodi,” Akhilesh tweeted, referring to his government’s populist scheme of distributing laptops to schoolchildren who have excelled in their high school and intermediate exams.
Have distributed 18 lakh laptops to meritorious students in Uttar Pradesh. Fulfilling your dream of #DigitalIndia @narendramodi
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) February 24, 2017
The campaign for the ongoing assembly elections has of late seen the discourse veering away from developmental issues. Political rivals have increasingly resorted to personal attacks. If BJP president Amit Shah said the Congress, the SP and the BSP together formed the acronym KaSaB, Akhilesh said megastar Amitabh Bachchan should stop promoting the donkeys of Gujarat, referring to his promotion of the western state’s wild ass sanctuary.
The tweet marks a return on part of Akhilesh to an issue that finds a prominent aspect of his campaign – the famous laptop distribution scheme. During the campaign on Thursday, the chief minister distributed laptops to meritorious students in Gonda, Balrampur, Basti and Bahraich. Earlier, he tweeted that about 18 lakh laptops had been distributed to meritorious students in UP and wished them all success in their careers.
About 18 lakh Laptops distributed to meritorious students in Uttar Pradesh. Wishing all of them success in their careers.
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) February 23, 2017
The scheme was an outcome of a poll promise made by the Samajwadi Party in the assembly elections in 2012. And it marked a stark departure from the SP of yore, which had opposed computerisation. SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav had famously taken a vow during the assembly elections in 2009 that he would abolish the use of computers, saying it was giving rise to unemployment.
