Nearly a quarter century after their bitter fallout, Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday came together in Mainpuri to share the dais from where the BSP chief campaigned for the SP patriarch hailing him as a real leader of the backwards and not being a “fake leader like Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
The BSP-SP alliance, having a formidable political arithmetic in the State, also achieved a strong political traction as the two bitter rivals ended their over-two-decade-long animosity .
Mayawati waxed eloquence for Mulayam terming him a “real and born leader of the other backward classes” unlike Prime Minister Narendra Modi whom she dubbed a “farzi OBC”. Besides praising each other profusely, the two arch-rivals also expressed gratitude to each other.
Mayawati even went on to take at the estranged Yadav clan member Shivpal Yadav saying, “Akhilesh Yadav is the sole inheritor of the legacy of Mulayam Singh Yadav.”
“I welcome Mayawati and I am very happy that Mayawati has come to my Lok Sabha constituency to campaign for me and I will never forget this favour. I am happy that I am sharing dais with Mayawati after very long gap. I respect Mayawati and you all should respect her,” said Mulayam Singh Yadav in his brief address to the rally.
He added, “This is my last election and I am contesting as per the wishes of the alliance”. Mulayam also appealed to the voters of Manipuri to ensure his victory in the election with a record margin. Mulayam also blessed Akash Anand, nephew of BSP supremo Mayawati, who too was present on
the dais.
Further enhancing the feel-good factor, Mayawati defended her move to join hands with the SP and said sometimes in the national interest and the party interest some tough decisions have to be taken. “I know people must be wondering why I have come here to campaign for Mulayam Singhji despite the State Guest House case. I have already replied to this question in January when both the parties announced this alliance in January”.
“Narendra Modi is a fake OBC, who is actually from upper caste and included his caste in OBCs list while he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Such person can never work in your favour,’’ Mayawati said, adding “Mulayam Singh Yadav is a born OBC and under the banner of the Samajwadi Party he has relentlessly worked for the emancipation of the OBCs’’. Mayawati added, “You have to ensure the victory of the real leader of the OBCs - Mulayam Singh Yadav’’.
In what is widely known as the “guest house incident”, Samajwadi Party workers had in 1995 attacked a State guest house where the BSP chief was camping with her supporters.
Mayawati also showered praise on SP chief Akhilesh Yadav saying “he is the sole inheritor of the Mulayam Singh Yadav and he is sincerely taking forward the legacy of his father”. In a rare gesture Mayawati ended her speech raising the customary ‘Jai Bhim’ slogan of her party and added “Jai Lohia”.
The BSP leader arrived at the Christian College ground to a rousing reception by surging crowds, comprising mainly of Samajwadi Party supporters in the party citadel.
As an SP MLA bowed before the BSP president Mayawati touching her feet, the SP patron, who was the first one to speak, welcomed her and asked his supporters to always respect her.
Mulayam Singh and Mayawati fell out after their ruling coalition in UP crashed in 1995, two years after they came together along with smaller parties to keep the BJP out of power.
SP president Akhilesh Yadav in his speech said that “it’s a historic day in the UP’s politics”. He thanked his father Mulayam Singh Yadav for giving respect to Mayawati and the BSP president for seeking support for his father.
Appealing to the people to snatch the ‘Chowki’ of the chowkidar, he said how a chaiwallah turned into a chowkidar just to fool the people. He said the new political chapter in Mainpuri has sent a message of Opposition unity against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the country. Mainpuri goes to polls in the third phase on April 23.
