Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav Tuesday said the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had failed the people of the country and Third Front was the only option for the electorate.
Addressing a huge rally in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh, around 270 km from the state capital Lucknow, the former chief minister also targeted Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and said the BJP's prime ministerial candidate was either seen on television or in Gujarat.
"TV aur Gujarat ke bahar Narendra Modi kuch bhi nahin hain (Narendra Modi has no clout outside TV and Gujarat)," he said. He also questioned Modi on where was he when China was intruding into Indian territory or when people were suffering from inflation and price rise.
Mulayam Singh added whenever people needed support, the Samajwadi Party (SP) was the only party that stood by them.
Referring to his work as India's defence minister, Mulayam Singh told people there were no incursions on the international borders or cross-border firing or slaying of Indian soldiers during his tenure.
People, he said, often asked him why he was so critical of China and spared Pakistan. The SP chief said this was because China was more powerful and Pakistan equivalent of India.
He said the country was at present in the grip of corruption and unprecedented price rise and the policies of his party could make the country progress and be more secure. "Only our party favours and protects all sections of society," he said.
Speaking at the rally, state Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said his party was alive to the concerns of the poor, farmers and youth and urged the people to vote and help SP candidates win by handsome margins in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls so that opponents forfeit their deposits.
Urban Development Minister Mohd Azam Khan targeted Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and taunted him as 'shahzaade' (prince). He said Gandhi should apologise for his remark that Muslim youths from Muzaffarnagar (hit by riots Aug-Sep) were having links with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.
