Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said that those who wanted to leave the party, were free to do so but they should not make any baseless excuses for their actions.
“This will give me a chance to see who all stand by me during these tough times,” he said, speaking to party workers. Mr Yadav said that the excuses made by three MLCs, Yashwant Singh, Bhukkal Nawab and Sarojini Agarwal, who recently left the party were ridiculous and baseless.
“Some people are saying they were feeling suffocated as the atmosphere of the party was bad. This should not be an excuse for leaving the party and they should find a better excuse. Those who want to go can just leave, at least, that will help us realize who are standing by us in bad times”, he said.
Mr Yadav, while referring to Bhukkal Nawab who had quit the party, said, “I had paid him a visit on Eid and had distributed sweets at his house. He never expressed any displeasure. We have now learned that there was some land dispute due to which he was pressurised to join the BJP”.
Taking a dig at Mr Nawab, Mr Yadav said, “They (BJP) are doing good work. It is ironic that when a person is not in the BJP, he is labelled as a land mafia and when he joins the party, he becomes honest, upright and a gentleman.”
Referring to Ms Sarojini Agarwal, the SP chief said that she ran a medical college in Meerut in the name of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.
“There could be a land issue behind it, as well, though I am not aware of the exact matter”, he added. Mr Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP of luring Opposition party MLCs as part of a ‘political conspiracy’.
