Lohia would have thrown out Mulayam: Mayawati

Had he been alive, socialist ideologue Ram Manohar Lohia would have thrown out Mualayam Singh Yadav from the Samajwadi Party for wasting public money, BSP leader Mayawati said on Friday.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said on her 60th birthday that Lohia would not have tolerated birthday parties and extravagant lifestyle of the Samajwadi Party leader.

"The gross misuse of public money in his birthday celebrations in the past two years and the Saifai Mahotsava over the years clearly shows that he has a wanton disregard for socialism and uses it only to get votes," she added.

She also targeted the Narendra Modi government, saying instead of the 'acche din' (good days), it had ushered in 'bure din' (bad days) for the people.

Neither the black money stashed in foreign banks had been collected nor had food prices controlled, she said.

Asking her supporters and party workers to celebrate her birthday in a simple way, Mayawati said the biggest gift they can give her is a resolve to return to power after uprooting the Samajwadi Party government.

She also demanded job reservation for economically weaker upper castes as well as reservations in jobs in the private sector for Dalits.