LUCKNOW, Aug. 23 -- Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav's "chavanni ko rupaya bana diya" jibe at former ally and Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary, who is the Union minister of state (independent charge) for skill development, has snowballed into a political controversy.

Bahujan Samaj Party national president Mayawati and Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya are accusing the SP leader of insulting not only Jayant, but also the Jat community and the political legacy of his (Jayant's) grandfather, former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh.

The "chavanni" controversy has implications beyond the immediate confrontation between Akhilesh and Jayant. It has handed the BJP, RLD and BSP a common politi...