New Delhi: Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday slammed the government, saying its slogan of 'sabka sath, sabka vikas' is a "lie" as its developmental pitch is only for the benefit of industrialists and not the common man.
Participating in a debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address in Lok Sabha, Yadav justified his invitation to Modi for his grand nephew's pre-wedding ceremony last week, saying he is the Prime Minister, not of the BJP, but of the country.
"Some people, including those in my village were wondering why I invited him to Saifai (in Uttar Pradesh). I invited the Prime Minister to my village as he is the PM of India, not of BJP," Yadav said.
Modi on Saturday had attended the pre-wedding 'tilak' ceremony of Yadav's grand nephew Tej Pratap with RJD chief Lalu Prasad's youngest daughter Raj Lakshmi.
The SP chief said his party would support the Modi government if it works towards making India "strong".
His assurance of conditional support came at the fag end of his 40-minute address which was peppered with attacks on the government and Modi.
"Your slogan of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas' (development of all) is a lie. I want to know whether your pitch for development was limited to a select people... Did you not support only the industrialists by the Ordinance? Was it meant to benefit the common man or farmer," Yadav said.
Taking a dig at Modi for his 'swachh Bharat' campaign, the former Union Minister said, "mere wielding a broom will not help in cleanliness".
He noted that Modi had cleaned Assi Ghat in his Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency by wielding a broom himself. "But things are back to what they were earlier...how can you clean Ganga without cleaning the tributaries?....You will have to remove poverty to clean India," the former UP Chief Minister said.
Referring to the controversial Land Ordinance, now introduced as a bill in the Lok Sabha, Yadav said the government must desist from acquiring fertile land. He said barren land can be used to set up factories and gave the example of areas near Agra and Banda in UP.
"Take that (barren) land and build factories. I have no objection. But do not acquire fertile land...the President's speech had little reference of the farmer," the SP chief said.
He said President Pranab Mukherjee was "unhappy" with BJP over spate of Ordinances and would have not addressed Parliament had he not been bound by Constitution.
Taking a dig at the BJP's performance in Delhi assembly polls, he said he was hoping that BJP would win.
"If you learn (a lesson) now, your party will emerge strong. But you will not get a second term (at the Centre)...
Your own BJP people say your leaders are arrogant and do not listen to them," Yadav said.
He asked BJP leaders learn from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley about how to help people. He recalled how Jaitley as the then Law Minister had helped him with some issue.
He said the Modi government has failed to deliver on its promises in nine months. "A child takes birth in nine months...," Yadav said.
Underlining that a party's manifesto is as sacred as 'Bhagwad Geeta', he said, "You (BJP) talked about giving account holders Rs.15 lakh each (of the Indian black money government brings back from abroad). What happened? Where is it? Give a timeline."
Some BJP MPs tried to hit back at Yadav over the performance of his party's government in UP but were restrained repeatedly by Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu.
Yadav said the media is with BJP and some media personnel were against him and had once declared him to be part of a dacoit gang.
Participating in the debate, JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda (JD-S) said he was the PM for nearly 11 months in a 13-party coalition. Still he worked for development and cleared the Delhi Metro project pending for a long time.
