Lucknow, February 27 Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday launched a sharp attack on the BJP over a controversy surrounding the NCERT Class 8 Social Science textbook, and questioned whether the ruling party was running a government or a circus of its whims and fancies.
He also alleged that the BJP makes sweeping allegations and expresses regret when caught.
Yadav's remarks came a day after the Supreme Court of India imposed a blanket ban on any further publication, reprinting or digital dissemination of the NCERT textbook, observing that it contained "offensive" content on corruption in the judiciary.
The court had remarked that "a gunshot has been fired and the institution is bleeding."
The Centre has expressed anguish over the controversial section, with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan promising to fix accountability and take action against those responsible for drafting it.
Questioning the sincerity of the government's apology in a post on X, Samajwadi Party president Yadav said, "Just as a cough traps a thief, so does a false apology trap the guilty."
"The BJP leaders, driven by their corrupt mindset, first hurl accusations at others that are many times bigger than their own wrongdoings (so that their corruption would look trivial compared to these massive charges against others). But when they are caught, they express 'regret'. This fake apology will eventually be exposed, and the deceitful intentions and hypocrisy of such cunning people are bound to be revealed one day, laying bare the fact that they are the culprits, not the innocent," Yadav said.
In the latest case, he said, the BJP leaders leveled corruption allegations even against the respected judiciary in an NCERT book.
"When the honourable Supreme Court raised strong objections, they now act innocent and say they do not even know who did it," he said.
"The public is asking whether the BJP is running a government or a circus of arbitrariness?" he added.
Yadav said the episode has exposed "the BJP's corrupt mindset." He also questioned the government's handling of educational content.