Asserting that the BJP government’s priorities are totally misplaced and that the budget apart from being anti-people also does not envisage growth, the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and national president of Samajwadi Party, Akhilesh Yadav, mocked the fact that the budget appears to have been drafted without any insight or foresight. Yadav said all this while addressing the Uttar Pradesh budget session in the state capital on Monday.

Lambasting the government on its thoughtless programmes that reflect poorly on the very identity of districts he said that the government should have backed the ‘perfumery park’ project as envisaged in the SP government, instead of allocating a Gobar (cow dung) plant for Kannuaj.

He said Kannuj is the perfume capital of ‘itar’, which is indigenous perfume and a park for growing herbs and flowers for itar extraction will help Kannuj retain its identity. By giving it a cow dung plant the government appears to have attempted to mock the very identity of this district.

Coming down heavily on the government for its short-sighted and ill-conceived programmes, the SP leader said that all the development plans of his government have been dumped and instead the state is about to get a budget that is lopsided and instead of giving prosperity and growth will only end up taking the state many years back.

Charging the Yogi government for their false propaganda of protecting the Gau mata (cows) he said that if their reverence for the cow was genuine they would have looked after the animal better instead of letting them join stray animals. Urging the government to promote cows milk he said that during his tenure he gave all concessions and protection to the local dairy Parag and ensured that cow’s milk was promoted.

Accusing the government of not doing anything to increase the green cover in the state Yadav said that unlike his government the present government only works on giving exaggerated figures of tree plantations. Citing examples from his government he said rare trees and shrubs were planted both in the land near The Gomti River Front and in the Gyaneshwar Mishr Park. Accusing the government of instituting false enquiries on these projects and discontinuing their maintenance he said that the work may have stopped but the beautiful flowers continue to bloom even in these adverse conditions. That he said is the way nature works.