Mulayam praises Advani, scolds son
Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday publicly praised senior BJP leader L.K. Advani while upbraiding his son Akhilesh Yadav’s SP government in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Mulayam Singh said Mr Advani had told him that the image of the UP government was not good.
“I know Mr Advani for years and he is an honest man who never tells lies. He told me that there is corruption in UP. We will have to deal with this firmly. Tell me, how many people have faced action for corruption in the government,” he asked. “I’ll go and meet him (Mr Advani) again,” Mr Mulayam Singh said.
The SP chief’s remarks can also be seen in the light of statements made by SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav who just days ago had said that the former BJP-led NDA government had been “more cohesive” and Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s style of functioning better. “NDA’s coalition was led by Vajpayee and he was a big personality. Other leaders in the coalition, such as L.K. Advani, are one of the biggest leaders of the country,” Mr Ram Gopal Yadav had said.
Mr Yadav, who was addressing a function to mark the birth anniversary of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia here, said UP’s ministers are not serious about their work. “I am not happy with the performance of the government. I have reports about each one of the ministers and if I ask the party workers to raise their hands on their performance, the situation will not be good. The SP came to power because our workers faced atrocities during the BSP regime and those who have become ministers did not fight it out on the streets. They are taking their jobs for granted,” he said.
Mr Yadav gave the Akhilesh government another five months to improve. “I want to tell Akhilesh that he should not be very happy if people call him good-hearted and simple. To run a government you should be stern and firm, and not just simple,” he said.
“One of our senior ministers (Waqar Ahmad Shah) is in hospital batting for life but not a single minister has bothered to visit him. If this is your attitude towards a colleague, how can you be expected to reach out to the people,” he said.
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