Continuing his attacks against the Bahujan Samaj Party–Samajwadi Party alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) president Shivpal Singh Yadav said the Gathbandhan is a mismatch and the electorate of Uttar Pradesh would never accept the coming together of strange bedfellows and reject them.
“The alliance is a complete mismatch and the decision was taken in the self-interest of the leaders of both the parties. Mayawati never respected socialists. People will not accept this alliance and those who are boasting about it will have to face defeat,” Shivpal Yadav said on Friday.
Lauding the PSPL cadre for strengthening the party within a short span of time, Shivpal asked them to get ready for more challenges. Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) was formed in late August 2018, after Shivpal’s growing differences with his nephew Akhilesh Yadav over “not giving him the due respect in the Samajwadi Party”.
The PSPL chief also attacked the Narendra Modi government for “failing” to keep its promises and eventually “losing people’s trust”.
“Our party workers should be alert as the Bharatiya Janata Party may use the Ram Mandir issue to communalise the atmosphere ahead of elections for political gains,” he added.
Interestingly, Shivpal Yadav is still an SP MLA from Jaswantnagar constituency in UP assembly.
However, in the coming Lok Sabha elections, Shivpal has announced that he would contest from Firozabad and the PSPL would field candidates on all the Lok Sabha seats.
At present, Shivpal Yadav’s nephew Akshay Yadav is the sitting MP from Firozabad. Akshay is the son of Shivpal’s estranged cousin Ram Gopal Yadav, who sided with Akhilesh during the Yadav family feud in 2016.
After being ignored by Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party Alliance, Shivpal Yadav had in January expressed his willingness to tie-up with Rahul Gandhi-led Congress to defeat the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party(BJP) in the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections slated to be held in April-May 2019.
Shivpal Yadav, despite differences with Akhilesh Yadav, had got his father Mulayam Singh Yadav to attend his rally last year.
– With Inputs from Agencies