Mulayam takes dig at Modi's claim of turning UP into Gujarat

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday took a dig at Narendra Modi over his remarks that Bharatiya Janata Party will turn Uttar Pradesh into a Gujarat, reminding the BJP's prime ministerial nominee that "atrocities and massacres" were carried out in the state ruled by him.

"A rally is on in Gorakhpur where the chief guest is the BJP's prime ministerial candidate. They say, they'll create a Gujarat (here). But please think again, you will not be in a position to do a Gujarat. You'll do a Gujarat, commit atrocities and massacres. Because this is what you have done there," he said addressing a rally in Varanasi.

Comparing the performance of the Gujarat government with that of UP, headed by his son Akhilesh, Yadav asked the assembled crowd to find out whether the Gujarat government had given unemployment allowances, waived loans of farmers or given special facilities to women.

"They have not done any of these....You know BJP doesn't have any other work but to spread rumours," he said.

Attacking Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, the former UP chief minister said scams and high inflation have severely hit the economy.

"Now who is responsible for the situation even after such a long time since the country gained independence. In Delhi, barring some time, it is Congress that has been ruling and it still in power.

"What have they done in these five years? What has happened apart from scams? There have been scams, atrocities, inflation and corruption. Inflation and scams have brought the country to a standstill," Yadav said.

The SP supremo said he has been a witness of several discussions on scams and inflation in Lok Sabha but it has not given any result.

"So many discussion were held on scams. And in every session there was a discussion on inflation. But they could not control inflation. It is because of inflation that thousands lost their lives and with regret I say, this happened even in UP," he said.