Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav addresses a public meeting in Gonda on Monday
New Delhi:
Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose partymen have promised him a shot at prime ministership this year, has challenged the BJP's Narendra Modi to a debate on governance.
Mr Modi is the BJP's prime ministerial candidate. In rally after election rally in Uttar Pradesh, he has torn into Mr Yadav's Samajwadi Party, which rules the state, comparing it unfavourably to Gujarat, of which he is Chief Minister, on development.
At an election rally of his own in Gonda today, Mr Yadav said Gujarat, a state with six crore people, could not be compared to UP, which is India's most populous state. "I heard Modi's speech... He said nothing has been done for farmers, but I ask whether he has made education, irrigation and healthcare free in his state like it is UP," Mr Yadav asked.
Last week, top UP ministers of his party vowed at a meeting to ensure that "Netaji," as Mr Yadav is known, will become PM after this year's national elections due by May, at the head of a Third Front government.
The Samajwadi Party chief confirmed to NDTV today that discussions are on to regroup a Third Front of non-Congress, non-BJP parties, but ruled out a pre-election alliance. "All these alliances will happen after the polls," he said.
On Wednesday, Mr Yadav will participate in a meeting of 11 such parties, including the Left and Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United). Mr Kumar was at pains today to explain that the immediate agenda of the meeting was to plan floor coordination for the Parliament session that begins on that day.
That effort, Mr Kumar said, would be led by the Left. There was no need, he said, to name a leader for the possible new front just yet.
Several attempts at cobbling together a third front of largely regional parties have faltered because several leaders have nursed prime ministerial ambitions. Nitish Kumar is believed to be one of them.
Mulayam Singh reportedly came within a hair's breadth of becoming PM in 1996, but the United Front coalition government chose HD Deve Gowda of Karnataka instead.
Mr Modi is the BJP's prime ministerial candidate. In rally after election rally in Uttar Pradesh, he has torn into Mr Yadav's Samajwadi Party, which rules the state, comparing it unfavourably to Gujarat, of which he is Chief Minister, on development.
At an election rally of his own in Gonda today, Mr Yadav said Gujarat, a state with six crore people, could not be compared to UP, which is India's most populous state. "I heard Modi's speech... He said nothing has been done for farmers, but I ask whether he has made education, irrigation and healthcare free in his state like it is UP," Mr Yadav asked.
Last week, top UP ministers of his party vowed at a meeting to ensure that "Netaji," as Mr Yadav is known, will become PM after this year's national elections due by May, at the head of a Third Front government.
The Samajwadi Party chief confirmed to NDTV today that discussions are on to regroup a Third Front of non-Congress, non-BJP parties, but ruled out a pre-election alliance. "All these alliances will happen after the polls," he said.
On Wednesday, Mr Yadav will participate in a meeting of 11 such parties, including the Left and Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United). Mr Kumar was at pains today to explain that the immediate agenda of the meeting was to plan floor coordination for the Parliament session that begins on that day.
That effort, Mr Kumar said, would be led by the Left. There was no need, he said, to name a leader for the possible new front just yet.
Several attempts at cobbling together a third front of largely regional parties have faltered because several leaders have nursed prime ministerial ambitions. Nitish Kumar is believed to be one of them.
Mulayam Singh reportedly came within a hair's breadth of becoming PM in 1996, but the United Front coalition government chose HD Deve Gowda of Karnataka instead.
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