Mulayam makes impassioned appeal to vote for Shivpal

Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday organised his second rally in favor of his younger brother Shivpal Yadav and sought people's support for him.

Making an emotional appeal for Shivpal Yadav, sacked by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav as the state President of the party, Mulayam Singh told the gathering that they should ensure that "my Shivpal wins".

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, who has not campaigned for the Samajwadi Party so far, has twice shown up for Shivpal Yadav in a show of solidarity with him and to express his anger with his son Akhilesh Yadav.

Although the Chief Minister has made repeated announcements that 'Netaji' will campaign for the SP-Congress alliance, this is yet to happen.

Campaigning for the second phase of assembly elections in the state ended on Monday.

The Yadav chieftain, recently ousted as the Samajwadi Party President by Akhilesh Yadav, recalled how he had won the Jaswantnagar seat seven times and won from Etawah as an MP by a huge margin of 1.6 lakh votes.

Adding that Shivpal Yadav had worked a lot for Muslims, the patriarch reminded people how while in the 80s there were very few jobs for Muslims, it was his government that ensured that every police station had at least three members from the minority community.

--IANS

md/nir/mr