Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav has asked his party workers to prepare for a final do-or-die battle against the Mayawati government.
The three-day state convention of the Samajwadi Party in Gorakhpur has sent out a clear message to party cadres that they should remain prepared for the final assault on the Mayawati government in the next Assembly elections.
Party leaders have also made it clear that there would be no room for turncoats, criminals and betrayers in the party.
“There are some self-centred leaders in the party and it is because of them that we lost more than three dozen seats last time. All such leaders should be black-listed and the party should be purged of such elements. Local leaders who cannot follow the leadership are no longer needed,” said Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav.
A senior leader said that the leadership was determined to oust the Mayawati government in the next assembly elections and would not hesitate to take stern steps to put the party organisation in order.
“The people have lost faith in the BSP government that has ignored development of weaker sections and has indulged in wasteful expenditure on parks and memorials. The Samajwadi Party is the only viable alternative in the state,” said Mr Akhilesh Yadav, who has been re-nominated as the state president for the second term.
That the Samajwadi Party has chosen Gorakhpur as the venue of its state convention is significant since expelled SP leader Amar Singh is busy with his Purvanchal yatra in the same region and has been castigating the SP for opposing creation of Purvanchal state.
“It is in larger interests of the state that we are opposed to any further division of UP. If divided further, UP will lose its sheen and its political significance in national politics. As for development, look what happened to new states that had failed to live up to the development promise,” Mr Mulayam Singh said at the convention.
Mr Yadav, while keeping up his attack on the Mayawati government, is not spare the Congress either.
Obviously, the Samajwadi Party leader wants to retain his space as the largest opposition party.
SP leaders pointed out the scams of the UPA government, termed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the weakest Prime Minister ever and accused the Congress of ignoring the interests of minorities by not implementing the recommendations of the Sachar committee and Ranganath Misra Commission.