Congress has to learn to respect its allies, says Akhilesh Yadav
16 April 2013 1:34 AM GMT
Dynamic, young and characteristically candid, UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said the alliance of the Samajwadi Party (SP) with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government would be based on how the Congress maintained its relationship with its allies. ‘Our party (SP) and Netaji’s (Mulayam Singh Yadav) belief is that there should be a secular and pro-development government and we are working towards that. That’s why the Congress-led UPA is still in power, and we definitely don’t want the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to take over instead. Ab baaki Congress jaane kaise sambandh rakhne hai. Hum log to koshish karte hai ache sambandh rakhne ki, par wo to un pe hai ki wo kaise sambandh rakthe hai. [The Congress should learn to respect its allies. We try our best to keep a good relationship with them, but the rest depends on them].’
If things don’t work out with the UPA, would SP ever consider aligning with the BJP? ‘No, we will never go with them. I don’t see a relationship with the BJP ever in the future,’ asserted the young leader. On being asked about the BJP leader and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi being projected as the prime-ministerial candidate of the party, Akhilesh said, ‘Modi is only in Gujarat and on the television. Beyond that, he is nowhere else. He campaigned in UP but the BJP got no votes here. In fact, in Bihar his own friend (Nitish Kumar) hasn’t let him enter the state.’
When asked about the contentious issue of former SP leader Amar Singh who had been expelled from the party, Akhilesh said, ‘No, Amar Singh will never be taken back into the SP. His suspension will never be revoked.’
Recounting a recent incident which had sparked off a huge controversy after Mulayam Singh Yadav praised BJP leader LK Advani for speaking the truth when Advani said that UP is ‘in a very bad state and corruption is rampant’, Akhilesh hit out at Advani saying, ‘Advaniji is playing emotional politics.. Woh ek pitaji aur ek neta ko, unke bete ke khilaaf bhadkaa rahe hain [He is instigating a father and a leader against his own son.]
Finally, addressing the law and order problem in UP, Akhilesh said, ‘This is an issue on which work needs to be done daily and continuously’.
If things don’t work out with the UPA, would SP ever consider aligning with the BJP? ‘No, we will never go with them. I don’t see a relationship with the BJP ever in the future,’ asserted the young leader. On being asked about the BJP leader and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi being projected as the prime-ministerial candidate of the party, Akhilesh said, ‘Modi is only in Gujarat and on the television. Beyond that, he is nowhere else. He campaigned in UP but the BJP got no votes here. In fact, in Bihar his own friend (Nitish Kumar) hasn’t let him enter the state.’
When asked about the contentious issue of former SP leader Amar Singh who had been expelled from the party, Akhilesh said, ‘No, Amar Singh will never be taken back into the SP. His suspension will never be revoked.’
Recounting a recent incident which had sparked off a huge controversy after Mulayam Singh Yadav praised BJP leader LK Advani for speaking the truth when Advani said that UP is ‘in a very bad state and corruption is rampant’, Akhilesh hit out at Advani saying, ‘Advaniji is playing emotional politics.. Woh ek pitaji aur ek neta ko, unke bete ke khilaaf bhadkaa rahe hain [He is instigating a father and a leader against his own son.]
Finally, addressing the law and order problem in UP, Akhilesh said, ‘This is an issue on which work needs to be done daily and continuously’.
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