"Samajwadi Party has done Congress party's funeral in UP," says BJP's Shehzad Poonawalla

Noida (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 25 : Launching a scathing attack against the Congress party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on Friday said that the Congress party has become 'kachha nimbu' of politics from Jammu and Kashmir to Kerala. He added that the Samajwadi Party has performed the Congress party's funeral in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
"Congress has accepted one thing - 'Mujhse naa ho paayega' and that is why they will surrender...In a way, the Congress party's funeral was performed by the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh. When we were young and played Cricket, there was something called 'kachha nimbu' - someone who didn't have the rights of a full player. So, Congress has also become a 'kachha nimbu' of politics. It has become the 12th man. Congress is 'kachha nimbu' from J&K to Kerala," said Shehzad Poonawalla.
"Congress has lost its confidence. It has nothing left, it has become a skeleton. Its flesh of votes has been taken away by someone else... Akhilesh Yadav has told them that Congress rides like a 'Betal' on the shoulders of 'Vikram', like a parasite, so it can't do that anymore...It is sad that Congress is nowhere today, people are trying to look for it through binoculars but it can't be seen anywhere in Uttar Pradesh..." he added further.
Earlier on Thursday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said that all INDIA Bloc candidates will contest on all nine seats in Uttar Pradesh by-polls on the Samajwadi Party's election symbol 'cycle'.
He also asserted that the Samajwadi Party's strength has increased manifold with the support of the Congress party's top leadership and booth-level workers.
Meanwhile, as many as 19 candidates filed the nominations for the Uttar Pradesh assembly by-elections on Wednesday for the nine assembly seats.
On Tuesday, 15 candidates filed nominations in UP for by-polls and a total of 34 candidates filed nominations for Uttar Pradesh by-polls till Wednesday.
Nominations will continue to be accepted for the by-elections of the 9 assembly seats in UP until October 25 (Friday).
The Uttar Pradesh by-polls are slated to be held on nine Assembly seats including Meerapur, Kundarki, Ghaziabad, Khair, Karhal, Phulpur, and Katehari.
The poll body has announced by-polls for nine of the 10 vacant assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, except Milkipur of Ayodhya district.
The by-polls on 48 constituencies are spread over 15 states - Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
The polling will take place on November 13 and the counting of votes is scheduled for November 23.