UPA’s days are numbered: Mulayam

SP govt. controlled Muzaffarnagar violence within two days, he claims

September 11, 2013 04:17 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 09:14 pm IST - New Delhi

File photo of Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

File photo of Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Meeting under the shadow of Muzaffarnagar violence, the Samajwadi Party national executive on Wednesday attacked the United Progressive Alliance for its “failures,” and said people were looking for a secular non-UPA, non-NDA alternative.

Setting the agenda for a two-day meeting of the national executive, party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav asserted need for a secular, political alternative — a change — in the country but added such a coalition could be formed only after the next general election. Keeping the country secular and united was the biggest challenge today, he said in the presidential address at the inaugural session in Agra.

The SP, which provided outside support to the UPA government at the Centre, would evolve a strategy on how to meet the present-day challenges and prepare for elections.

“Only regional parties can provide a strong alternative to big parties, which are deep into vote-bank politics. People are now looking for a change and the days of the UPA, which has failed on several fronts, are numbered.”

Commenting on the violence in Muzaffarnagar that left more than 40 people dead, Mr. Yadav said parties that had lost the trust of people in the last elections were trying to fan communal violence. In Muzaffarnagar, a criminal incident triggered the violence and the State government was able to control it within two days, he claimed, even as several people questioned why no senior minister visited the site of the violence.

“If we do not remain vigilant, such incidents will be repeated. The SP is a party with the political legacy of Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narain and Choudhary Charan Singh and we will not allow such incidents to happen even if we have to make sacrifices. This is a big challenge before us.”

Turning to the situation on the borders, Mr. Yadav said the first and foremost responsibility of a proud nation was to instil a feeling of security and dignity in its citizens. “But during the regime of both the UPA and the NDA there have been incursions, infiltrations and our soldiers have been killed on the borders which the government has hidden from the country.”

Alleging that there was no serious effort from the UPA government to change the situation, he said the Prime Minister first gave assurances and then said “we cannot change our neighbours.”

Mr. Yadav said: “It is true we cannot change our neighbours, but we cannot let our boundaries be held captive in their hands. Nor will we tolerate our soldiers being martyred without fighting.”

Referring to inflation and depreciation in the rupee as an indicator of the bad economic situation, he said that in the last 10 years the economy was governed by foreign currency and the purchasing capacity of the rupee was at the mercy of the U.S. dollar.

The SP proposed a resolution on the economic and political situation in the country, which shall be discussed and adopted on Thursday.

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