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The three-day national convention of the Samajwadi Party (SP), which kicked off here on Wednesday, saw party President Mulayam Singh Yadav training guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Yadav not only invoked the “chappan inch ka seena” (56-inch chest) barb of Modi that gained much currency during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, but also went on to say the prime minister was getting submissive before world leaders.
He questioned Modi on his talks with Chinese and Pakistani leaders even in the face of territorial aggression. The SP chief also talked about the 2002 Gujarat riots in his address to zealous and slogan-shouting party workers. Yadav flayed Modi for allegedly making hollow promises to the electorate during the Lok Sabha polls.
Earlier in the day, Yadav was unanimously elected party president for the ninth consecutive term. He would be the party president for the next three years. Janata Dal (United) President Sharad Yadav was invited to the convention and he shared the dais with the senior SP leadership.
In his address, he hinted at a possible alliance of all the parties having socialistic ideals to take on the resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party.
The convention would discuss and adopt resolutions for strengthening the party ahead of the 2017 Assembly polls, especially after the routing during the LS polls at the hands of BJP.
In his pep talk, Mulayam warned party leaders, including ministers and legislators, against getting into the comfort zone and neglecting people's issues. "People are supreme…do not neglect them. They teach lessons at the appropriate time."
Without dropping names, Yadav said he knew of some party leaders and ministers who were getting personal works done on the basis of their privileged positions, while compromising official responsibilities and duties.
"Party workers write to me about such leaders and I have their names with me," he said.
After coming to power in March 2012, the SP-led Akhilesh Yadav dispensation is midway through its five-year term. SP fared poorly in the only major election during its current rule in UP, when it was nearly routed in the April-May 2014 LS elections due to the "Modi wave". The party got reduced to just five LS seats compared to 23 in 2009.
However, the recent Assembly by-polls had provided the saving grace for the party, when its candidates won eight of 11 seats.
