This Article is From Nov 21, 2013

You can't match us, Mr Modi: Mulayam, Akhilesh on war of rallies in Uttar Pradesh

You can't match us, Mr Modi: Mulayam, Akhilesh on war of rallies in Uttar Pradesh
Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh: At a rally in Bareilly that the Samajwadi Party billed as its grandest-ever, party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said the effort had in no way been influenced by the scale of preparations for a Narendra Modi rally 200 km away in Agra.

"The BJP's PM candidate is holding a rally in Agra. But our rally was planned much earlier," he said, before launching an elaborate criticism of the Congress, which he supports at the Centre with his 22 MPs, and its leader Rahul Gandhi, who he referred to as "the Congress party's candidate for PM."

His son and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav acknowledged, without naming Mr Modi, "a competition of rallies has started," but added, "you can't match ours."

On stage with the Yadavs, a controversial cleric from Bareilly in western UP, Tauqeer Raza Khan, declared, "In the interest of promoting secularism, Muslims must vote Mulayam and make him PM." The SP depends heavily on the substantial Muslim vote in UP.

The cleric was arrested by the Mayawati government in UP in 2010 for allegedly fueling riots in Bareilly. He runs a political  party that backs the SP government in UP and is known most for supporting a fatwa issued against Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen in 2007.

Mulayam and Akhilesh have launched their campaign for the national elections due in May and are holding a series of rallies in the state that their party rules. Akhilesh Yadav said today, "The real fight is for the Lok Sabha election. You have to prepare for that."

Mulayam Singh has repeatedly said that his external support to the Congress-led UPA will not continue beyond the present term. There has been speculation that Mr Yadav could participate in bringing together non-BJP, non-Congress parties in an attempt to resurrect a third front as an alternative at the Centre.

Today, Bareilly was splashed in the Samajwadi Party colours of green and red. A hot air balloon showered flowers on the crowds.
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