Akhilesh Yadav clarified that laptop distribution had been done in a transparent manner.
Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "electric shock" jibe, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said he had not asked him to touch a wire and would never say anything like that.
"I had not asked the Prime Minister to touch the wire ..I had asked the Baba (Yogi Adityanath) but since there had been no breaking news, it seems that he had not touched the wire," Mr Yadav said at a hurriedly convened press conference in Lucknow.
"I will not ask him (PM) to touch a wire..I will never say anything like this so that he becomes emotional and gets angry," he added.
"In fact, I had asked the Prime Minister to take oath in the name of 'Ganga Maiya' whether or not we are providing 24-hour power supply in Varanasi," he said.
The Chief Minister's response came hours after PM Modi's attack on him during an election rally in Mirzapur. "Akhilesh has dared me to touch an electric wire to find out whether power is really there or not," the PM said, adding, "On March 11, election results will give electric shock to SP, BSP and Congress."
The Chief Minister asked the central ministers camping in Varanasi to tell the people what work has been done by their respective departments. Taking a dig at them, he said they should make the payments for the 'kachauri-pakauri' being eaten by them through mobile and debit cards in keeping with the Prime Minister's push for cashless economy.
He also clarified that laptop distribution has been done in a transparent manner without any discrimination and read out the names of 10 beneficiaries in Varanasi. He asked the BJP leaders there to check it up with them.
"How many youth have got laptops from the Prime Minister...in the days to come we want to give smart phones. The PM talks about graveyards and cremation grounds but we talk about laptops and smartphones," he said.
To a remark by Mr Modi in Mirzapur on Friday about rates of everything in the state being fixed, Mr Yadav asked, "what should be the rate for lodging complaints ...we have put everything online...there is no rate for lodging complaints. If he has any information he should tell us," the Chief Minister said.
He added that if returned to power, his government would waive off farmers' loans worth Rs 1 lakh and refuted allegations of anomalies in police recruitment.