The SP chief being taken on a 12-km buggy ride in Rampur
Preparations for celebration of Mulayam Singh Yadav's birthday (Photo: ANI Twitter)
Lucknow: The celebrations of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s 75th birthday kicked off on Friday with the SP chief being taken on a 12-km buggy ride in Rampur.
UP minister Azam Khan who made controversial statements during event said, “The last time we had welcomed Netaji (Mulayam) in a vintage car, but this time we have got an imported Victorian buggy. The cultural department is organising plays and other programmes. Anything else you all want to know?”
The entire city was decorated for the event and the entire Akhilesh Yadav government is in Rampur for the celebrations. The Samajwadi Party appears not to have learnt any lessons from the controversy earlier this year during the Sefai Mahotsav event, where a Bollywood bonanza was held at a time when riot victims were dying due to the cold in Muzaffarnagar. The BJP used the issue against the SP government and the Samajwadis faced a near-rout in the Lok Sabha elections.
The birthday bash, held at a time when the Akhilesh Yadav government is facing flak over poor law and order and the power crisis in the state, will undoubtedly give the BJP yet another issue to lash out at the Samajwadis, and the saffron outfit will obviously use it to further flog the state government.
The issue could also find an echo in the Assembly next week. BJP spokesman Manoj Misra said on Friday the birthday bash amounted to a mockery of socialism that the SP talks about, making it clear that the BJP will use the issue to its advantage in the coming months.
More than 50 UP ministers and all major SP leaders are in Rampur to participate in the mega event. All hotels are booked to capacity, and some guests have been put up in hotels in Bareilly and Moradabad.
Rampur DM C.P. Tripathi said: “All departments have been working to ensure that Netaji’s 75th birthday is celebrated in a grand manner.” Over a dozen schools in the city were asked to declare a holiday for two days as school buildings are used to provide accommodation to the security forces.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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