'Cycle' should have been repaired earlier, says Rahul Gandhi

LUCKNOW: Opposition parties today poked fun at the ruling Samajwadi Party in view of the feud 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."

Questioning both Mulayam Singh and Akhilesh Yadav on various decisions taken by them, Maurya said it has now been proved that the tussle for power and personal gains within the government and Samajwadi Party have become anarchic in which bureaucray is also being used as a tool without bothering for the interest of common people of the state.