Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Ministers Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati on Friday erased 24 years of bitter hostilities and shared the same platform in Mainpuri where the BSP President took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi while the Samajwdi Party patriarch declared that this will be his last election.
The two leaders sat side by side even as the crowds lustily cheered the alliance. Mulayam Singh Yadav introduced her to Samajwadi Party workers and asked them to touch her feet to show their respect.
In her speech, Mayawati said that Mulayam Singh Yadav was a genuine backward caste leader who had united various caste groups.
"He is not a fake (farzi) OBC leader like Prime Minister Narendra Modi who claims to be a OBC leader but has done nothing for OBCs and Dalits," she said.
Mayawati asked people to recognize the genuine leaders of their caste and ensure their victory.
"Ensure the victory of Mulayam Singh Yadav. His son Akhilesh Yadav is carrying forward his father's legacy," she added, referring to the other former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister who too later took on Modi.
In her speech, Mayawati said: "You must ensure a historic win for Mulayam Singh Yadav."
She said that the 'natakbazi' of the Prime Minister on the 'chowkidar' issue would not have the desired impact on the voters now. She blasted the Modi government for betraying the people by making false promises, including giving Rs 15 lakh to all Indians.
She stated that if the SP-BSP-RLD alliance came to power, she would ensure financial assistance for the poor.
The BSP leader taunted the Prime Minister for terming the alliance as 'Sarab' and said that the BJP was intoxicated with power and had to be voted out.
She said that several questions were being raised about her party's alliance with Samajwadi Party. "I have already explained that some decisions are taken in larger national interests. We have also done the same."
Mayawati insisted that the Bharatiya Janata Party had fared poorly in the first two rounds of the staggered Lok Sabha elections and vowed to oust the Modi government.
Targeting the Congress too, the BSP leader called its NYAY scheme "a drama".
"Congress remained in power at the Centre for over 60 years but they did not work and they were thrown out. And now to get votes of the poor they are promising money to them. This will also not get them votes."
In his brief speech, Mualayam Singh Yadav welcomed the BSP leader and asked party workers to treat Mayawati with respect because she had come to campaign for him.
He also asked the people to ensure his victory with a greater majority than ever before.
"I am not going to speak much because you all have heard me many times," he said.
He said this will be his last election and so urged the people to help him win with a record margin.
Akhilesh Yadav, speaking for himself and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, accused Modi of fooling the electorate. He said Modi presented himself as a 'chaiwala' in the 2014 Lok Sabha battle and was now calling himself a 'chowkidar'.
The Samajwadi Party and the BSP first entered into an alliance in 1993 and formed a government in Uttar Pradesh.
After the 1995 State Guest House incident in which Mayawati and her supporters were held captive for almost 30 hours by Samajwadi Party leaders, the two parties had severed all ties.
Mayawati, after the Mulayam government was dismissed in Uttar Pradesh and she was 'rescued' from the Guest house, had sworn that she would never have any truck with the Samajwadi Party.
Later, she became Chief Minister with BJP support in 1995. The government lasted four months.
--IANS
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