Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party for spreading canard about the development in Uttar Pradesh. Highlighting the efforts of the Samajwadi Party to improve the lot of farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Yadav said that no other state could boast of launching so many welfare schemes as UP.
Yadav was speaking at the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Pratinidhi Sammelan organised by Sehkari Ganna Samiti Sangh at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan. Farmers from all over the country attended the conference.Addressing the gathering, Yadav said: The BJP is spreading canard about development in Uttar Pradesh andModi (Narendra Modi) is calling UP a backward state. On what basis are they saying that the state is lagging in development when we have been in the forefront of launching welfare schemesIJ
The SP supremo said that the BJP had ruled the state four times, as a single party or in coalition, but it had failed to provide even a single unit of electricity to the farmers whereas the SP Government was on the verge of solving all the problems related to power supply in the next one-and-half years with the installation of a 2000 megawatt plant in the state.Yadav said UP was the only state in the country that was giving Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of farmers killed in accidents.
The SP supremo said the Akhilesh Yadav Government had done in one year what the party had promised for five years. He pointed out that the state Government had waived the loans of farmers, provided free water for irrigation and had brought in legislation to prevent auction of farmers' lands due to non repayment of loan. Besides, he said, the state Government had introduced Kanya Vidyadhan, free education and free health care schemes of the poor that no other state was running. Recalling the mandir-masjid controversy, the SP supremo said that he had taken a stand on it in favour of the unity of the country.
"If I had not sided with the Muslims, they would have felt that I was not with them. It was a serious issue and I did what was the best for the unity of the country. It was said that the BJP had collected huge amounts of money from the country and abroad for building of the a temple (at Ayodhya). We want to know where that money isIJ" he asked.
Yadav said that Uttar Pradesh gave Rs 25 crore to Uttarakhand when it faced natural calamity but Narendra Modi gave only a few lakh rupees as assistance to the hill state when it was ravaged by landslides.Welcoming the farmers from across the country, Yadav said the country could progress only if the farmers progressed. He said that despite majority of Indians being associated with agricultural field, it was unfortunate that farmers community was always at a loss.Yadav assured the farmers that they would get their due profits and the state Government would ensure that the sugar mills did not walk away with excessive profits.
The SP supremo asked the farmers to draft concrete proposals and submit them to the state and the Central governments. "On our part, we will get the demands of the farmers implemented in the state," he said.The farmers' leaders attending the conference stressed the need for a realistic agricultural policy. They saw Mulayam Singh Yadav as the future prime minister of the country. They also said that the party which supported farmers would form government at the Centre.