Today there is a need to unite the society, said Akhilesh Yadav. (FILE)
A day after BSP chief Mayawati targeted the Samajwadi Party, SP president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said his party is out to unite the 'Bahujan Samaj' and warned those who "indirectly help" the BJP in elections.
Mayawati on Sunday charged that the SP was trying to politically use the name of BSP founder Kanshi Ram even though it has a long history of being ungrateful to him as well as BR Ambedkar.
Mr Yadav attended a function in Rae Bareli on Monday after unveiling a statue of Kanshi Ram.
"We are the people who follow the path shown by Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and Manyavar Kanshi Ram. We are not the ones who are out to make a dent in the 'bahujan samaj' but we are those who bind them. 'Netaji' Mulayam Singh Yadav and Manyavar Kanshi Ram had started a new kind of politics in the country," the SP chief was quoted as saying in a press statement.
The SP chief said Mulayam Singh Yadav had helped Kanshi Ram win the Lok Sabha seat from Etawah and reach Parliament.
"Today there is a need to unite the society. The path shown by Dr Ram Manohar Lohia in the Samajwadi movement is the same path followed by Bhimrao Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram," he said.
Referring to the BJP slogan "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas", Yadav said it can be realised only when a caste census is undertaken.
"Without a caste census, social justice and 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' is not possible. With the kind of decisions the BJP is taking, the backwards, Dalits and the poor will not be counted. BJP is handing over everything in private hands and after privatisation, how will backwards, Dalits get the rights given to them in the Constitution," he asked.
Saying that this fight is long, Mr Yadav said "we tried , also got into an alliance with BSP and it reached ten from zero. Today all the big leaders of BSP are in Samajwadi Party." "BJP contests elections by taking support of others and so, one has to be careful of the BJP and those who indirectly help the BJP," he said.
'Bahujan Samaj' usually refers to Dalits and Other Backward Classes.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)