SP supporters won’t vote for Sinha in Prez polls due to his earlier remarks against Netaji

Akhilesh counters it saying ‘ISI agent’ jibe against Mulayam was made long time ago, when Yashwant Sinha was with BJP

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav’s support for Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha was met with more opposition, this time from within the Yadav family itself. Senior leader Shivpal Yadav on Monday claimed that staunch supporters of the party would not have voted for the Opposition candidate, referring to the “ISI agent” jab that had been directed at party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

“How could a staunch SP worker vote for somebody who once called Netaji an ISI agent? Those who consider Netaji as their ideal would not vote for the Opposition candidate,” said Mr. Yadav, citing an old newspaper report that had Mr. Sinha calling Mr. Mulayalam Singh an agent of the Pakistani spy agency ISI. Mr. Sinha had been a senior minister in the NDA government then.

Revealing that neither his advice nor that of his brother Mr. Mulayam Singh was sought while deciding on rendering support for Mr. Sinha, Mr. Yadav opined that the party whip should not apply for the election of the highest constitutional post in the country. Speaking to reporters after casting his vote in Lucknow, the Jaswantnagar MLA said he had made an appeal to voters to listen to their inner conscience while casting their ballot to elect the next President.

Mr. Yadav was all praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the candidate fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party. “I thank the PM of the country for making an ideal woman tribal leader the Presidential candidate. It is in line with the thought of socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia,” he said. However, Mr. Yadav also claimed that had Mr. Akhilesh respected his views and that of Mr. Mulayam Singh, the BJP would not have been able to find success in the State. He pointed out the fact that he was not invited to meetings of the party legislative group despite being a senior SP MLA, second only to Azam Khan. The party, however, doesn’t see it the same way. Though the president of the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party, Mr. Yadav contested the Assembly polls on SP’s symbol. Since then, he has presented himself as an SP member, while the party described him only as an ally, leading to frequent spats. An SP spokesperson clarified that any controversial remarks by Mr. Yadav should be seen as statements made by a post-holder of the PSP.

Speaking to reporters about the “ISI agent” jibe, Mr. Akhilesh Yadav said that the BJP too had been using such language against his father. "This is the character of BJP to attack those who fight for socialist and secular ideals. Netaji worked to protect the Constitution of India," he said, adding that Mr. Sinha was also fighting a similar battle.

Party spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi, on his part, pointed out that Mr. Sinha had made that comment when he had been with the BJP. "Since then, he has come a long way and has made his disillusionment with the BJP's divisive politics amply clear," he added.