Saina Nehwal's Congratulation Tweet On BJP Win In Zila Panchayat Polls Stirs Row; RLD Chief Calls Her 'Sarkari Shuttler'

In a tweet on Saturday night, the ace badminton player Saina Nehwal said, "Hearty congratulations for thumping victory in Zila Panchayat Chairperson election in UP Yogi Adityanath sir." 

Image: Saina Nehwal (@NSaina/Twitter)

Lucknow: Badminton champion Saina Nehwal extended wishes to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for his “thumping victory" in the Zila panchayat elections ahead of the big state election next year. Her Congratulatory tweet to the Chief Minister prompted a sharp comment from RLD president Jayant Chaudhary who called her "sarkaari shuttler". 

In a tweet on Saturday night, the ace badminton player Saina Nehwal said, "Hearty congratulations for thumping victory in Zila Panchayat Chairperson election in UP Yogi Adityanath sir." 

Over an hour later, the opposition parties reacted with sharp remarks. Rashtriya Lokdal president Jayant Chaudhary in a Tweet said, "Sarkaari shuttler recognises BJP skill in smashing peoples' verdict! I think voters need to play a subtle drop shot on celebs trying to influence their decisions!" 

The saffron party on Saturday claimed to have swept the elections to the posts of the district panchayat chief. The ruling BJP emerged as a sole winner of Panchayat elections with winning 67 out of 75 seats. Samajwadi Party won 5 seats, Lok Dal and Jansatta Dal won 1 seat each. One seat goes to independent candidate. 

The election results came as a massive setback for Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (BJP) who managed to win just 5 seats. The SP chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP of making a mockery of the elections, saying it is strange that while most results in the polls for the district panchayat members were in favour of his party, the BJP gained in the contest for the district panchayat chief.

The local polls is being seen as a litmus test for political parties, specially for the Congress and Samajwadi Party, to see the ground reality among the voters ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh assembly elections which are expected to be held next year in March-April.