'Cycle' should have been repaired earlier, says Rahul

Opposition parties today poked fun at the ruling Samajwadi Party in view of the fued in Mulayam Singh Yadav family, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav should have repaired the "cycle" (SP's election symbol) four-and-a-half years back as his actions now mean nothing.
Rahul, in the course of his 'kisan yatra', said, "Akhilesh should have removed the defects from the cycle four-and-a-half years back. Now with elections hardly six months away, what does all this mean?"
He was apparently referring to Akhilesh's action of sacking two ministers on graft charges and shunting out the chief secretary, known for his closeness to senior cabinet minister and uncle Shivpal Yadav.

Rahul was speaking during a roadshow in Mirzapur in eastern Uttar Pradesh, from where he resumed his Deoria-Delhi mahayatra after a two-day break.
His barb came against the backdrop of BJP's charge that the Congress Vice President was more vitriolic in his attack on the saffron party compared to Samajwadi Party and that there was a bonhomie between Rahul and Akhilesh -- both describing each other as "achha ladka".
BJP state unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya said, "The Samajwadi Party has totally failed in checking law and order, prevailing 'goonda raj', corruption and land grabbing and so it has resorted to these tactics for diverting people's attention to build up the image of Mulayam's son and chief minister."

The internal tussles within the SP's first family has also

given handle to BSP to target it.
BSP chief Mayawati has already urged the Election Commission to declare the state elections early -- by January-February next year, arguing that the family feud within the ruling SP and "jungleraj" in UP would lead to chaos in governance in coming months and cause difficulty in holding "independent, impartial and peaceful" elections in view of "infighting within the first family".
However, Akhilesh was today combative on the decisions taken by him that have led to internal feuds coming out in the open saying there might be problems in the government, but not in the family.

"There may be problems in the government, but not in the family," he said on the sidelines of an event at his 5, Kalidas Marg official residence here.