Claiming the blessings of his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav cautioned his supporters against ‘fake Samajwadis’.
Akhilesh was addressing his party’s state convention in lucknow which began with the party flag being hoised by the SP chief on Saturday. The convention which was attended by nearly 15,000 SP leaders and workers, re-elected Naresh Uttam as state SP chief.
However, SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav and his brother Shivpal Yadav, who relation with the SP chief is estranged, were conspicuous by their absence.
It’s being interpreted as signal to the party’s rank and file to stay away from his warring uncle Shivpal Yadav besides indicating a fresh strain in the first family of the Samajwadi Party.
Akhilesh exhorted party members to realise responsibilities ahead of lok Sabha by-polls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur and an Assembly seat in Kanpur Dehat. The two Parliameantary seats were vacated by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya.
“Beware of ‘banawti’ (fake) Samajwadis who have tried to stop the Samajwadi movement several times in the past. They succeeded in one conspiracy as a result of which we could not form a government in the state,” Akhilesh said in a veiled attack on his uncle and SP leader Shivpal Yadav and his supporters.
However, the former CM repeatedly referred to the contribution of his father Mulayam Singh in the Samajwadi movement and in the present strength of Samajwadi Party. Akhilesh got emotional while talking about his father and said, “Neta ji is my father. His blessing is always with us and hence we are propagating his ideology. I want to tell you that his blessings will always be with us. Anyone can say anything but I am the son of Neta ji. We will take forward this ‘andolan’ (movement) and no one can stop this forward journey,” he said.
Akhilesh also criticised the Centre for recent train derailments and sought better rail services for UP. He highlighted works initiated by his government and said that the present BJP regime fooled the people with fake promises.
The convention was attended by senior SP leaders Ram Gopal Yadav, Azam Khan, Ram Govind Chaudhary and over 15,000 workers from across the state.
Training his guns at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the SP chief said, ``The people of UP are amused at the performance of Yogi Adityanath. They feel cheated and are now realising that they made a mistake. They have concluded that this government can do nothing except pursuing divisive communal agenda.’’
Yadav also used demonetisation to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi. ``The BJP will never do anything for the masses. Schemes like ‘New India’, ‘Skill India’ and ‘Stand up India’ etc. are all hoax which have failed to deliver in the last three years. There is no let up in cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and martyrdom of brave jawans of Army and para-military forces,’’ said Yadav.
Earlier on his re-election as state SP chief, Naresh Uttam said, “I thank SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and will be indebted to the Samajwadi Party for life. I exhort all of you to close ranks and work for the party’s success in the coming by-polls to two lok Sabha seats in UP. Only the SP can work for uplift of masses. The BJP government disappointed the people as it has no agenda except dividing people on caste and communal lines.”