'No govt at Centre possible without SP, RJD, LJP'

SAIFAI (UP): In their first show of strength in Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday addressed a
joint rally in Saifai, claiming that the next government at the Centre cannot be formed without them.

Addressing the public meeting here, also his home town, SP supremo Mulayam Singh said, "No government at the Centre is possible without the three parties."

RJD chief Lalu Prasad said "Three brothers have come together, not only to win Lok Sabha elections, but also to fight communalism...we will show our strength in the cow belt."

Thanking Mulayam Singh for SP's support to the UPA government during the trust vote in July, Prasad said "had the SP not been there, the government would not have survived."

Taking a dig at political rivals, the RJD chief said when the three parties came together, some people in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh "got scared" as they were not expecting the new alliance to come through.

Attacking Congress, Prasad said "Congress wants to strengthen its organization
and not win elections in Bihar and UP."

Paswan, the Lok Janshakti Party supremo, claimed that he and Lalu "were standing like rocks" to support Mulayam Singh. "No one can separate us," he asserted.

Attacking the BJP, Paswan said "They (BJP) can only demolish, not construct anything." He was referring to the demolition of the Babri mosque.

Lalu also used the opportunity to target the saffron party and its leader L K Advani. "He wants to be the Prime Minister. But he cannot...People claim I know magic as I can predict the future," he said.

He said the NDA was disintegrating with BJD, AIADMK and National Conference deserting it. "They implemented POTA, but we removed it (POTA ko sota mar kar khatma kiya)".

Paswan said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has done little for the poor. "Elephant (BSP's election symbol) is meant for the rich and not the poor," he said.

The three regional political satraps are scheduled to address three more election rallies. The second rally will be held in Bareilly to cover the Ruhailkand area. Two other rallies will be held in Varanasi and Gorakhpur, two prominent cities of east UP which is also known as Purvanchal.

This is for the first time in nearly a decade that the three cow belt leaders have addressed a rally jointly.

Similar joint rallies have been planned for Bihar in the coming days.