Mulayam lauds SP workers for their hard work during UP polls

Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav visited his Lok Sabha constituency, Mainpuri, with his son Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday and praised party workers for working hard, irrespective of ''victory or defeat'' in the recently-concluded Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

Interacting with party workers, the SP patriarch said, ''You all are working with dedication. Victory or defeat happens.'' The BJP-led NDA retained power in the Uttar Pradesh polls, winning 273 seats in the 403-member Assembly.

Addressing a press conference, Akhilesh Yadav said after the booth-wise data is made available by the Election Commission (EC), he will review his party's poll performance.

''We got votes from all sections of the society and our vote percentage has increased,'' the SP chief added.

Despite aggressively positioning itself against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the SP finished the poll race at a distant second position, winning 111 seats.

The saffron party bagged 255 seats and its allies won 18.

Alleging that crime is on the rise Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav said he had warned people that prices will rise after the polls and that is what is happening.

''Everything has become expensive. The prices of petrol and diesel are rising daily. Building material prices are also going up. Unemployment is showing an upward trend and those unemployed are committing suicide,'' he said.

Asked about reports of his uncle Shivpal Yadav's growing proximity with the BJP, the SP chief said, ''I do not have any such information.'' Reports suggest that a sulking Shivpal Yadav is keeping a distance from the SP leadership and cosying up to the BJP after the declaration of the poll results.

Asked about some SP office-bearers raising their voice against his leadership and relinquishing their posts, Akhilesh Yadav wondered why did they not offer to resign two months ago. Later, a statement issued in Lucknow quoting the SP chief said the party would ''strengthen its organisation'' and reach out to people.

''The party will strengthen its organisation and reach out to people and start an awareness campaign. It will do whatever it can to save democracy,'' he said.

Earlier, Akhilesh also offered flowers at Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar's portrait in Mainpuri.

''We all are remembering Dr Ambedkar. We all should come forward to save the Constitution and respect each other's caste,'' he said.