Responding to Union Minister Anurag Thakur's criticisms of the party's connections with one of the 49 convicted in connection with the 2008 Ahmedabad blasts case, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said that if photographs are considered to be parameters for association, leaders who are seen with "industrialists running out of the country with money can be seen", as per ANI.
Speaking to ANI, Yadav added that when he was a Lok Sabha MP, he saw BJP leaders "almost touching" the feet of a Pakistani General when he visited.
A special court on Friday, 18 February, pronounced death sentence for 38 out of the 49 convicts. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that one of the accused's father was a SP leader and was campaigning for the ongoing Assembly polls in the state.
Speaking at a press conference, Anurag Thakur said that while the BJP had "zero tolerance" towards terrorism, the SP gave "full protection" to them. One of the accused, Mohd Saif is the son of SP's Shadab Ahmed.
Thakur had questioned Yadav's silence over the matter, showing photos of him with Ahmad.
"As far as Anurag Thakur is concerned, he is a minister," Yadav said, stating that he was in a vehicle with many others and on his way to a defence office for Territorial Army training at the time of the serial blasts in 2008.
"If I am a terrorist, so are they. Ask him about this," he told ANI.
(With inputs from ANI)
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