The Rashtriya Lok Dal has said that people were getting disillusioned with the performance of the Akhilesh Yadav government and a strong sense of betrayal was also palpable.
Talking to reporters here on Saturday, RLD MP Jayant Chaudhury said that the Samajwadi Party had made several promises in its election manifesto but the conditions imposed in the implementation of the same had left a large chunk of beneficiaries out.
“For instance, the loan waiver scheme will benefit only 7.2 lakh farmers while others will be deprived of the benefit. Similarly, only a small group is benefiting from the unemployment allowance. The Samajwadis should have broadbased their schemes to ensure maximum benefit to the maximum people,” he said and added that raindrops cannot be expected to quench thirst.
The RLD MP also criticised the Akhilesh government for the inordinate delay in announcing support price for cane-growers.
On the issue of opposing FDI in retail, Mr Chaudhury said that his party had five MPs and the party did not wish to indulge in arm-twisting tactics on its strength. “We oppose issues in a realistic manner. The Opposition is setting up roadblocks on the FDI issue but does not wish to discuss the matter in Parliament,” he said.
Mr Chaudhury announced that the RLD will observe the birth anniversary of the late Chaudhury Charan Singh on December 23 as Kisan Divas and the party will launch a membership drive from December 1 to 22.
The RLD MP said that the party membership form, this time, had a column for email address and mobile number so that the new memberships could be verified in a random manner.
To another question, Mr Chaudhury admitted that youth were shying away from joining politics because they were more concerned about their career and future.