Justifying the merger of the six constituents of the erstwhile Janata Dal into a “Janata Parivar”, Mulayam Singh, who has been designated the president of the still-to-be-named party, clearly emphasised that in Uttar Pradesh the pre-eminent position is that of the Samajwadi Party. “In the 2017 Assembly elections the fight will be between the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, there is no third party , the Samajwadi Party president said at a function to mark the 89{+t}{+h}birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar at the party headquarters on Friday.
A section of the Samajwadi Party feared that once the new party is formed, the SP symbol, “cycle” would be freezed and it would impact upon the party’s performance in 2017 Assembly elections. Even as Mr. Singh sought to dispel notions of the new alliance casting a shadow on the Samajwadi Party he pointed towards the “big challenge” which lay ahead.
In his first public appearance after the formation of the “Janata Parivar”, Mr. Singh slammed the NDA government for its arbitrary style of functioning and said it was on grounds of political expediency that the six parties to come together. “It was felt that working independently is of no use,” he said. Mr. Singh was hopeful that the new proposed party will form the next Government in Karnataka.
Stating that a “big responsibility” has been bestowed upon him, Mr. Singh said all the leaders were unanimous that the new party should be formed under him. The Samajwadi Party chief added that the views and opinions of the other leaders would be sought and they would be given due respect. “ Koi manmani nahin hogi” ( there will be no arbitrary decisions), Mr. Singh added.
Mr. Singh recalled his long association with the former Prime Minister and said only Chandra Shekhar (and Chaudhary Charan Singh) thought about the development of Uttar Pradesh. He underplayed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on renovating the ghats in Varanasi and said the ghats in Varanasi and Prayag in Allahabad were initially developed by the Samajwadi Party Government.
On building toilets in rural areas, Mr. Singh said rural toilets in the State were built by his Government in 1989-90. The SP president said he had asked the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav to instruct the District Magistrates to get toilets made in rural areas.
Paying tributes to Mr. Chandra Shekhar, Mr. Singh said the former Prime Minister was known for his simplicity and honesty. Recalling an instance which led the Congress to withdraw support to the four month old Chandra Shekhar Government at the Centre in 1991, the Samajwadi Party president said the former Prime Minister never compromised on any issue. He exhorted his party workers to seek inspiration from the former PM.
In his address, the Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya drew Mr. Mulayam Singh’s attention towards the partymen’s desire that cycle should be the poll symbol of the new party, which should be named “Samajwadi Party”.
Through Friday’s function, held to thank the State Government for declaring Chandra Shekhar’s birth anniversary on April 17 a public holiday, an attempt was made by the ruling party to reach out to the Thakurs. Apart from Raja Bhaiyya all the other Thakur Ministers, MLAs and MLCs and Mr. Chandra Shekhar’s son Neeraj Shekhar were present. Also present were senior Ministers Shivpal Singh Yadav, Ahmed Hasan and Ram Gobind Chaudhary.
