Sharad Yadav meets Akhilesh, talks of Grand Alliance
LUCKNOW: Having set off the process to tap prospective alliance partners in the wake of recent victory in Lok Sabha by-polls with the help of the BSP, Samajawadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav met on Tuesday former Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav at his residence.
The two leaders are understood to have discussed political scenario and revival of Third Front or Grand Alliance of antiBJP parties ahead of the Lok Sabha polls 2019.
“Unity of Opposition parties has ensured the BJP’s defeat thrice (he did not specify the instances) in the Rajya Sabha. The situation at present in the country is akin to one during the Emergency in 1975-77. There were fewer political parties then. The ruling NDA government is a sinking ship. The BJP’s allies will part ways soon,” the former JD (U) member of Parliament said talking to media persons.
He said BJP had promised 2 crore jobs, bring back ‘black money’ from foreign bank account and give 15 lakh to each individual. “But now the party’s president Amit Shah says it was just a ‘jumla’ ( a remark). Lack of jobs has lead to a situation in which 26,000 youths (and these statistics have been made available by the government) have been forced to commit suicide,” he said.
He congratulated both the SP and the BSP for their victory in Gorakhpur and Phulpur by-polls and said the win had sounded the death knell for the BJP.
“The defeat in Gorakhpur and Phulpur are just a precursor of electoral reverses in store for the BJP,” he said adding its allies will part ways from the alliance. He said NDA’s agenda had assumed divisive proportions. After the Shiv Sena, the TDP has also left NDA. Soon, no one will be left in NDA, Yadav said.
Recalling his time as the NDA convener, under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishan Advani, Yadav said then it had a national agenda. Now this agenda has been made communal and divisive. “The present government at the Centre is dividing people in the name of religion,” he said and added that a large number of the central government’s decisions and move were anti-constitutional.
Accusing UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath of using unconstitutional language and actions, Yadav said he was more concerned about cows than humans and instead of looking into peo- ple’s problems and controlling law and order was hopping from one temple to another. “Demonetisation and GST has played havoc with the country’s economy and be it the real estate or any other sector, businesses and people across the spectrum are suffering. The people will hitback at the government for these wrong policies in the 2019 polls,” he said adding that he was touring the country for a grand alliance to ‘save the Constitution.’
“A number of parties are coming with me,” he said adding that he will meet BSP chief Mayawati soon.
About his fight with the JD (U), Yadav said he was contesting a case in court and also in the Election Commission and added he was also exploring the name of his new party as well.