Mulayam snubs Shivpal, seeks win for Akhilesh
Akhilesh Yadav also hit out at the Modi government's demonetisation move and alleged that it did not check corruption and back money.
New Delhi: In a setback for Shivpal Yadav, who recently floated a new outfit claiming that he had the blessings of elder brother Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch on Sunday appeared on the same platform as his son and party president Akhilesh Yadav during a rally in the national capital and asked workers to ensure a big win for the party in the 2019 parliamentary elections.
With both father and son sharing the stage, the show of unity by the SP could dash all hopes of Shivpal Yadav’s Samajwadi Secular Morcha (SSM). Last week, the SSM had announced that Mulayam Singh would be contesting the next Lok Sabha polls as its candidate.
Attending the concluding event of a cycle rally at Jantar Mantar here, Mulayam Singh told party workers to make sure that the party forms the government in Uttar Pradesh and gets a respectable share in Parliament.
Mulayam Singh also urged party workers not to indulge in corruption and asserted that the country, farmers and youth will be empowered only when the SP gets stronger. “There is no difference between Samajw-adi Party’s promises and actions,” he said.
“I will also tell Akhilesh Yadav to involve women in various committees and have them at various party levels, starting from the block,” he said.
Addressing the rally, Akhilesh Yadav attacked the Narendra Modi government over the Rafale deal and demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe to unravel the truth.
Demanding a caste census in Uttar Pradesh, the SP chief said, “Social justice in the state is possible only when there is a caste census.” He alleged that hospitals in the state treat patients based on their caste and the police takes action after determining the caste of the complainants.
Akhilesh Yadav also hit out at the Modi government’s demonetisation move and alleged that it did not check corruption and back money.
“There are no employment opportunities. Sugarcane farmers are an unhappy lot as their dues are still pending and the chief minister (Yogi Adityanath) says that excess production of sugarcane causes diabetes. The chief minister urges people to chant ‘hanuman chalisa’ to get rid of monkeys. But 2019 polls will determine who flees and who stays,” he said.