Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday launched a two-pronged attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress and said that both the parties were hand-in-glove for power race at the Centre. He also attacked BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, saying he presided over mass murder of Muslims in 2002 Gujarat riots.
Yadav was addressing Samajwadi Party’s “Desh Bachao, Desh Banao” rally at the Parade Ground here on Sunday. “The coming lok Sabha election is very crucial and will decide the future of the next generation,” Yadav said and appealed to the massive gathering to strengthen the hands of the Samajwadi Party.
Thousands of raised hands greeted Mulayam when he asked whether they promised to ensure the victory of his party’s candidates.
Soliciting support of the Muslims, Yadav said that the SP always stood like a rock for the welfare and progress of the minority community. He highlighted the measures taken by the SP Government in Uttar Pradesh for the welfare of Muslims.
launching a frontal attack on Narendra Modi, the SP chief held him responsible for the massacre of Muslims during Gujarat riots and said that the Muslims would never forgive Modi for the misdeed.
Cornering Modi on the claims about development in Gujarat, he said that as per the statistics, 37 per cent women and 50 per cent children in Gujarat were malnourished. He added that rivers in Gujarat were polluted and the people were forced to drink polluted water.
He also lambasted the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre for compromising the country’s security and said that the boundaries of the country were not safe. He assailed the foreign and domestic policies of the Government which lowered the prestige of the country in the eyes of other countries.
Remembering late Janeshwar Mishra, popularly known as Chhote lohia, Mulayam said that Allahabad was the nerve centre of politics since the days of freedom struggle and hoped that Allahabad would set a trend in the forthcoming lok Sabha elections.
Speaking on the occasion, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav enumerated a number of development projects and welfare schemes launched by the SP Government during its two-year tenure. He said that the SP Government distributed laptops to the students, launched Kanya Vidyadhan schemes for girls education, financial assistance to unemployed youths, increased power generation, created industrial hub, opened employment opportunities for lakhs of youths, free irrigation to the farmers etc.