After giving a nod to the Third Front to stop the UPA and the NDA from coming to power post the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Samajwadi Party on Sunday held its first election campaign by holding a ‘Desh Bachao, Desh Banao’ rally here.
Addressing a large gathering at the Parade ground, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, by calling him “a killer of humanity”.
“Musaalmano ka qatl-e-aam karke aur ab maafi mangte hai (First Muslims are mass murdered then they ask for forgiveness),” Yadav said.
Mulayam added, “When Gujarat riots happened, I went there without caring for security, that showed my courage.”
Further taking a dig at Congress, the senior SP leader said, “Both the major parties (Congress and BJP) are detrimental for the country’s prosperity.”
“The Congress has no policies for the poor and the minorities. Even the boundaries of the country are not safe in its hands,” he added.
Claiming that Modi’s charisma would not work in Uttar Pradesh, Yadav denounced the so-called Gujarat model of development.
“There is nothing in Gujarat. Experts have said that the most dirty and polluted rivers are in Gujarat,” the veteran SP leader said.
Defending the claims that people from Uttar Pradesh have to migrate to other states for employment, Yadav said, “In Gujarat there is filth everywhere, children and women are under-nourished and Modi ji says people from Bihar, UP go there for work.”
“37% women and 50% children in Gujarat are malnourished,” he added.
On recent development of LJP joining Bharatiya Janata Party, Mulayam said, “BJP lacks candidates to the upcoming General Elections. It is trying to break people from Congress.”
“Neither Congress nor BJP is in majority, both are scared. I’m happy that not one person has left Samajwadi Party to join Congress or BJP,” he added.
Addressing the same rally, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said his government had undertaken several welfare schemes which were now being aped by other state governments.
“Previous government only signed Memorandums of Understanding, we will implement those,” Akhilesh said.
