Lucknow: A day after announcing to float the new Samajwadi Secular Front on July 6, Shivpal Singh Yadav, the warring uncle of Samawajdi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, today claimed that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is an honest and hard working leader and the BJP government should be given at least 6 months' time by the Opposition before assessing its performance. "The present Yogi government in the state should be given some time before they should be assessed for their performance.
But I can say Yogiji is an honest and hard working leader," Mr Yadav said without commenting on the role of the Samajwadi Party in the Assembly protesting against law and order problem in the state recently. Mr Yadav, in a surprise revelation, said, 'All those who used to carry the flag of SP and raised slogans in favour of Mr Akhilesh, have obtained the saffron scarf and switched over their loyalty to BJP. These very persons are creating law and order problem for the BJP Government.' He alleged that these very people were involved in all kinds of illegal activities like occupying the land and the public property.
'I always fought against the dominance of such elements in the SP.' Reiterating that enough water has flown after the party's humiliating defeat in the Assembly elections and now the dedicated workers of the party are left nothing except for launching a new secular front to revive the rank and cadre, Mr Yadav alleged that the Opposition in the present government is not playing its role. "SP has totally gone disarray in the present leadership as it is the party of Mulayam Singh Yadav and except him no one can be the leader," he said without taking the name of his nephew Akhilesh Yadav. "I had spent most of my political career in the opposition but this was for the first time that SP even becoming the largest opposition party was doing nothing for social justice and even people are feeling disillusioned from the present leadership," he claimed. Hitting hard on his nephew, Mr Yadav said the present party leadership are only surrounded with 'chaplus and chugolkhore (sycophants). He said the main objective of the front will be to ensure the honour and respect to Netaji(Mulayam) and to end the family dispute.
On the call for alliance with the BSP in the coming Lok Sabha elections, the rebel SP leader said, "SP do not need crutches or support from anywhere. Do we had any alliance to win 224 seats in the 2012 assembly elections and what happened in the 2017 elections when SP and Congress joined hands and both had to lick the dust. "But the foremost thing is that if the dispute within the family and party continues no one can gain.
In the 2017 elections, most of the defeat were due to the family dispute with people totally rejecting the party leadership," he claimed. When his attention was drawn on the bad health of Mr Mulayam, which could put a spanner on the new secular front, Mr Yadav said now Netaji is fully fit. "He is just 76 and there are several political leaders his seniors who are working in the political circle efficiently," he claimed while adding that sometimes, when his calcium and sodium count drops then he gets unwell and forgets things.
"This could be the reason when he appointed Akhilesh as the CM in March 2012," he joked with scribes. Still having a soft corner for expelled SP Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh, the UP MLA from Jaswantnagar, said, "I had warned Amar Singh before his joining that he won't get respect in the party but still he went ahead and had to face humiliation.
Amar Singh and others who had been neglected and insulted by the present SP leadership would be our real reason for float the Samajwadi Secular Front so that they can get their respect and honour. What can we say about others, when Netaji and myself are insulted by this incumbent." He also announced that in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls Mr Mulayam will contest from his traditional Mainpuri seat with commenting on the present Mainpuri MP Tej Pratap, that he is free to contest anywhere from UP or Bihar. Taj Pratap is the son-in-law of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. (UNI)