Lucknow: Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'red caps are red alert' jibe at Samajwadi Party (SP) during an event in Gorakhpur district in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, former Chief Minister and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said that red alerts for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are inflation, unemployment and others issues.


He asserted that the people wearing red caps, a trademark headgear of his party members, are red alerts also for the BJP as they will oust it from power in the next UP assembly polls.


"For the BJP, there is a red alert of inflation, of unemployment, of the bad plight of farmers and labourers, of Hathras and Lakhimpur Kheri (incidents) of the oppression of women and youths, of a destroyed education system, business and health, besides the red cap, which will oust the BJP from power," the former UP chief minister tweeted in Hindi.






"There will be an 'inquilab' (revolution) of red and change in 2022," he added.


SP chief's rhetoric came hours after PM Modi took a dig at SP saying that the "people wearing red caps are the supporters of terrorism," without naming them directly. 


"Today entire UP knows that the 'red caps' cared about 'red beacons' alone. They had nothing to do with your pain and issues. The 'red caps' want power - for scams & for filling their coffers, for illegal encroachments, for providing freedom to the mafia," PM Modi said during his Gorakhpur visit.


"The 'red caps' want to form govt to show leniency towards terrorists, to bring them out of jails. So always remember that the 'red caps' are red alert for UP - they are bells to danger," Prime Minister said further. 


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Akhilesh, who has left no stones unturned to uproot the ruling Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh, has recently claimed that the state is headed for change and his party's strategy will help in dethroning the BJP in next year's Assembly elections.


Meanwhile, Opinion Polls jointly conducted by ABP & C-voter suggests BJP's return to power in 2022 in Uttar Pradesh, though with significant reduction in the number of seats that the saffron party is expected to win. 


According to the latest round of opinion polls, BJP and its allies are projected to grab seats in a range of 213 to 221 seats in 2022 Assembly polls, while SP and its alliance partners, emerging as a key challenger to the saffron party, are expected to win 152 to 160 seats this time.