Stop issuing secular certificate: Amar
SP said that Congress must now stop dishing out secularism certificates.
By ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: The Samajwadi Party on Friday retaliated against attempts of Congress leaders to suggest that they were unhappy with Mr Kalyan Singh���s alliance with the Samajwadi Party by saying that it was time that they stopped dishing out certificates of secularism.
���Some people in the Congress believe that they have a secular Midas touch. If they associate with a BJP leader of long standing like Shankarsinh Vaghela, he would get the secular badge. They have also no qualms in admitting an old Shiv Saink Sanjay Nirupam, who was abusive towards Sunil Dutt in campaign meetings.
But if SP joins hands with Kalyan Singh, who has a mass base, constituency-less politicians in Congress have a problem,��� said SP general secretary Amar Singh.
Amar Singh���s colleagues, who said that it was time the slanging match stopped, claimed it was the Congress which was desperate for an alliance with SP. ���We have already announced 51 of our candidates. There are only 29 seats left on the negotiating table and we are not ready to give more than 20 seats to the Congress,��� said an SP leader.
The SP leader also said that Mulayam Singh has responded to the letter from Mr Digvijay Singh which said that he had bailed out Mr Yadav���s brother Shivpal. ���He had not done any favours by withdrawing the case of attempt to murder against Shivpal.
He was merely acting against a politically-motivated case filed by a BJP government,��� said the SP leader. He also reminded Mr Digvijay Singh that Mulayam Singh had not chosen to go to the media about the help provided to the Congress leader���s son-in-law in Barabanki.
The SP leader also said people like Salman Khursheed should refrain from speaking on Kalyan Singh���s track record. He claimed that a family member of Khursheed has written a three-page letter to Kalyan Singh praising him for his decision to leave the BJP.
Incidentally, Farrukhabad, previously represented in the UP assembly by Khursheed���s wife, has a sizeable population of Lodh Rajputs to which Kalyan Singh belongs.
���Some people in the Congress believe that they have a secular Midas touch. If they associate with a BJP leader of long standing like Shankarsinh Vaghela, he would get the secular badge. They have also no qualms in admitting an old Shiv Saink Sanjay Nirupam, who was abusive towards Sunil Dutt in campaign meetings.
But if SP joins hands with Kalyan Singh, who has a mass base, constituency-less politicians in Congress have a problem,��� said SP general secretary Amar Singh.
Amar Singh���s colleagues, who said that it was time the slanging match stopped, claimed it was the Congress which was desperate for an alliance with SP. ���We have already announced 51 of our candidates. There are only 29 seats left on the negotiating table and we are not ready to give more than 20 seats to the Congress,��� said an SP leader.
The SP leader also said that Mulayam Singh has responded to the letter from Mr Digvijay Singh which said that he had bailed out Mr Yadav���s brother Shivpal. ���He had not done any favours by withdrawing the case of attempt to murder against Shivpal.
He was merely acting against a politically-motivated case filed by a BJP government,��� said the SP leader. He also reminded Mr Digvijay Singh that Mulayam Singh had not chosen to go to the media about the help provided to the Congress leader���s son-in-law in Barabanki.
ADVERTISEMENT
The SP leader also said people like Salman Khursheed should refrain from speaking on Kalyan Singh���s track record. He claimed that a family member of Khursheed has written a three-page letter to Kalyan Singh praising him for his decision to leave the BJP.
Incidentally, Farrukhabad, previously represented in the UP assembly by Khursheed���s wife, has a sizeable population of Lodh Rajputs to which Kalyan Singh belongs.
Download
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
ADVERTISEMENT
