Lion wars: Modi versus Akhilesh

Speaking at his rally in Bahraich, Narendra Modi mocked UP’s chief minister for asking for two Asiatic lions for the proposed safari in Etawah. Modi’s point was that the CM should have asked for something more meaningful such as the know how to run a cooperative milk movement. Akhilesh Yadav took to Facebook to respond, and wrote, “UP has given Swamp deer 02 female, hog deer pair, macaw pair, golden phesants two pairs, ring necked phesants two pair in exchange for two pairs of Gujarat lions..(sic.)”, completely missing the point of the barb. That did not stop followers of the young UP chief minister from gushing that the right answer had been given to a shallow Modi who had sought to bring up such an inconsequential exchange at the rally. Over to Modi. There is little doubt that the Gujarat chief minister’s two successful rallies in UP have send the main political parties there, the SP and BSP, into a bit of a tizzy.