By Faisal Fareed, TwoCirc;es.net,
Lucknow: Mausam Sard hai, Jazbat Garm Hai– with this punch line national general secretary of Samajwadi Party (SP) Mohd Azam Khan set the tone for the first election rally of the party along with SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav at Barabanki on Sunday.
Known for his oratory skill, Azam Khan handled the situation deftly. Lashing out at the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Chief Mayawati, he remarked: “With your hard earned money, they have constructed the statues. Remember the statues of dictators in Iraq were also first draped then pulled down.”
In his hour long speech, Azam hit the Congress most. Digging out the history of Babri Masjid, he remarked: “From the placing idols on 22/23 December 1949, opening of its locks, Shilanyas and demolition on December 6, 1992–everything was done by Congress regime. Can Rahul Gandhi answer these?”
Terming the 4.5 percent Muslim reservation as another attempt to backstab the Muslims, he stated that it is for the whole minority community and will not help the Muslim community. “I assure you that Muslims will be given reservation on the model of Kerala and Andhra Pradesh governments, it will better than that in a manner that it can also not be stayed legally by court proceedings,” he said.
Once the stage was set, Mulayam began his speech. He offered free education, free water and free medicines after winning polls. “All these things are in our manifesto. We will do this and we are firm on our commitments,” he said.
Mulayam came down heavily on BSP government stating that crime and rape incidents are on the rise in this regime. “Ours will be a friendly government with no ill feelings,” he said. Mulayam also stated that Barabanki meeting will be lucky for him as this is the first meeting in 2012 and he will be touring other parts of the state. He also took assurance from the crowd that they will vote for the SP candidates in coming elections.