In less than 24 hours of Chief Election Commission announcing the poll schedule for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav called on the Pasi community to bring him back with a two-third majority. He also, once again, clarified to a section of the Press that he would prove the majority on the floor of the House on February 26 as it was pre-scheduled.“Power does not come by begging, you will have to snatch it,” Mulayam told the community adding that no one could stop the SP from getting back to power if Pasi community decided for it. “Use the banner of SP as your weapon to grab your share in power,” he said. Addressing a Vishal Pasi Sammelan at the Bijli Pasi Quila here today, Mulayam criticised the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and announced to convert the Bijli Pasi Quila into a scenic spot once he came back to power. He said in this election the fight would not be for political but for social change — all the other parties have dual policies — they talk of poverty, backwardness, development but work for rich and capitalists. Mulayam said the BSP was not a national party at all, as it did not have any ideology. Although Mayawati was the target in the rally, Mulayam also lashed out at the Congress party saying the Central Government was conspiring against the SP rule, “but this rally must have alerted all those forces which were against the SP.” The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said in spite of poll dates being announced, the conspiracy to topple his government was still on. “All the parties are acting against my government for no fault of us. Though poll dates have been declared, conspiracies are still on,” he told the gathering.The others present on the stage were Cabinet ministers Raghuraj Pratap Singh, Naresh Agarwal, Ashok Bajpai, Arvind Singh Gope and party general-secretary Amar Singh. Amar Singh particularly targeted the Congress and Governor TV Rajeswar. Stressing on the constitutional validity of the Mulayam government, he said no constitutional agencies like the High Court, Supreme Court, President or Chief Election Commission found anything wrong with the Mulayam rule. “But the Congress from the backdoor (Governor) conspired against the state government,” he said. No need for President’s Rule, reiterates KaratJAIPUR: Hailing the announcement of Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, CPI-M general-secretary Prakash Karat on Thursday said there was no need for imposition of President's rule in the state. “I met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after he sought our party's view and made it very clear that Article 356 should not be enforced in the state that has an elected government,” Karat told reporters. “Every elected government should be allowed to prove its majority on the floor of the House if there is any problem under the anti-defection law,” he said, adding the inter-state council be called to discuss the Article’s applicability and use-misuse.
