Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said that the Samajwadi Party–Congress alliance will not be confined to Uttar Pradesh alone and it would fight communal forces which are spreading politics of hatred.
Yadav had a busy day on Monday and addressed seven elections meetings covering seven Assembly segments out of the eight in Sitapur district.
In all the meetings, Yadav was accompanied by senior Congress leader and former Deputy Speaker of UP Assembly Azam Rizvi. The Chief Minister in his meetings introduced Samajwadi Party candidates as represenbtatives of the SP- Congress alliance and canvassed for support.
The SP president also countered Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s jibe at Aligargh that the BJP storm in the state, forced the SP to seek alliance with the Congress.
Akhilesh retorted, “The Samajwadis are in the habit of facing the storm. We formed the government in UP in 2012 after fighting the storm. We will also face the BJP storm as we know how to peddle the cycle against the current.’’
The SP chief’s prestige is at stake in Sitapur as he had denied ticket to sitting MlAs Rampal Yadav and Mahendra Singh ‘Jheen Babu’ in the district. Both are contesting and giving a tough fight to the SP candidates.
Besides, the Yadav community in Sitapur is also sore with Samajwadi Party and Akhilesh Yadav over denial of ticket to Rampal Yadav. He was expelled by Akhilesh in January last year and later readmitted by former state SP chief Shivpal Yadav and also given a party ticket.
Explaining the nitty gritty of the alliance, Yadav said that the SP government during its five year tenure accelerated development in the state.
“Vote for Samajwadi Party for taking this process to the logical conclusion where every citizen will be covered by the benefits of development and prosperity,’’ said Akhilesh.
Visibly eleated over the fresh endorsement of SP-Congress alliance by his father Mulayam singh Yadav on Monday, the SP president said, “Netaji’s blessing is with us and there was no discord at any level in the party. The sole agenda of every partymen should be victory of the party candidates so that the SP-Congress coalition could form the next government in UP with a comfortable majority.’’