Akhilesh’s ‘25 paise’ remark triggers row with RLD, Mayawati demands apology

A war of words erupted in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday (August 22, 2026) over Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav’s remark, “we turned 25 paise into a rupee, and yet they left us,” which, without naming anyone, was seen as a reference to the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). The RLD linked the remark to Jat pride, while Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati demanded that the SP apologise to the entire Jat community for allegedly insulting the family of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh.

“As it is well known that the public statement by the Samajwadi Party (SP) chief about his old ally Rashtriya Lok Dal and the leader of that party, the Union Minister, that ‘we have turned them from 25 paise into rupees’, is completely indecent, unbecoming and extremely shameful and it would be appropriate if he immediately apologizes not only to that party and its leader but also to the entire Jat community for insulting the family of late Chaudhary Charan Singh ji for such arrogant and undemocratic statement,” wrote Ms. Mayawati, on X. 

The BSP leader added, “however, in the politics of the country, the conduct, character and face of SP has always been unpleasant and unreliable, plagued by political narrow-mindedness and casteist hatred, not only for its rival parties but also for its allies, due to which BJP has been taking political and electoral advantage of it on most occasions and the secular forces have been weakening,”. 

SP president Akhilesh Yadav, addressing an event recently, said, “Jaane kahan-kahan se aa gaye the log gathbandhan banane. Humne chavanni ka rupya bana diya tha, tab bhi humein chhod kar chale gaye wo (I don’t know from where all people came to form an alliance with us. We had increased their value from 25 paise one full rupee, yet they left us and went away).”

Mr Yadav did not name anyone; he was referring to Mr Chaudhary’s “chavanni” comment during the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election campaign, when he rejected BJP overtures while an SP ally, saying he was not a “chavanni” who could be “flipped” easily.

Reacting to the statement, the RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary said, “If you had to use some cheap words in the political battle, you could have said it by taking my name. There was no issue…Targeting the Jat community and saying we taught them ABCD?”

“I have seen this arrogance closely and believe that such behaviour only leads to downfall,” Mr. Chaudhary wrote on X. Besides Mr. Yadav, RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary also responded to the remark. SP State president Shyam Lal Pal, meanwhile, said the party had helped a community that was politically marginalised, in an apparent reference to the RLD and the Jat community.