Samajwadi Party (SP) once again revived the move to prop up a bigger “secular” alliance on the lines of the erstwhile Janata parivar when party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Janata Dal (U) president Sharad Yadav shared the dais at the SP’s national convention on Wednesday and issued a call for unity of secular forces to save the country from “communal” forces.
Sharad Yadav’s presence at the SP’s national convention was indicative of an attempt by these two parties to bring together like-minded regional outfits to take on the BJP at the national level by raising the bogey of communalism.
“More leaders are expected to attend the SP’s national convention that will continue till Friday. Naveen Patnaik and Chaudhary Ajit Singh have also been invited to attend this meet,” a senior SP leader told The Pioneer.
Rashtriya lok Dal (RlD) sources, however, said they had no knowledge about any invitation from Mulayam to Chaudhary Ajit Singh to attend the SP’s convention. Mulayam and Sharad’s meeting came four days prior to the October 12 Meerut rally called by RlD president Ajit Singh
in which several secular leaders including lalu Prasad, Naveen Patnaik, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, Nitish Kumar, the SP supremo and Sharad Yadav would participate. The meeting has been called by the Chaudhary Charan Singh Smarak Sanyukt Morcha.
At the convention Mulayam Singh Yadav and Sharad Yadav addressed each other as “bada bhai” and “chota bhai”. “On meeting my younger brother Sharad Yadav today I was reminded of the good old days,” Mulayam Singh said at the meeting.
Both the leaders used the occasion to berate “communal” forces and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The JD(U) leader called for unity among the secular parties to save the Constitution and the country.
“India needs a bigger alliance to counter communal forces and for this Mulayam Singh Yadav should take the lead,” Sharad Yadav said in his speech.
“Mulayam Singh is my elder brother and my political mentor. He has fought communal forces tooth and nail. There is a threat to the country ever since the BJP came to power and Mulayam Singh should make efforts to bring all the secular forces under one umbrella,” he said.
“The Janata Dal (U) and SP have shown the BJP its place during the by-polls in Bihar and UP respectively. If we can do it at the State level why should we not join hands at the national levelIJ” he asked.
Sharad Yadav said that during the lok Sabha election campaign Modi sold false dreams. “The innocent people got mesmerized by his dialogues and voted for the BJP. However he has not delivered on his promises,” he said.
Mulayam also criticized Modi for his failure to tame China. “Mind my words; China is a bigger threat to India than Pakistan. But what Modi is doing no one knows,” Mulayam Singh said.