Prez polls: Many SP MLAs didn't want to vote for Sinha, claims UP Dy CM Pathak

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Monday claimed that a large number of Samajwadi Party MLAs did not want to vote for opposition presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha as he had once called Mulayam Singh Yadav an agent of Pakistans spy agency ISI.Some days ago, an old newspaper clipping in which Sinha had made allegations that Mulayam Singh Yadav was an ISI agent went viral on social media.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Monday claimed that a large number of Samajwadi Party MLAs did not want to vote for opposition presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha as he had once called Mulayam Singh Yadav an agent of Pakistan's spy agency ISI.

''Some days ago, an old newspaper clipping in which Sinha had made allegations that Mulayam Singh Yadav was an ISI agent went viral on social media. ''I also tweeted it. The SP MLAs were upset with this and they were of the view that they will not vote for the person who defamed their leader,'' Pathak told PTI after casting his vote for the presidential election.

Pathak had on Friday tweeted an old newspaper clipping in which Sinha had made allegations that Yadav, the then defence minister, was an ISI agent. Claiming that UP is going to make a record, Pathak said, ''When Prime Minister Narendra Modi made Droupadi Murmu NDA's candidate, everyone wanted to support her.'' ''Every MLA wants Murmu to win the poll with historic margin and make history in the country. The NDA has 273 members in the UP assembly while SP has 111 MLAs and its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) has eight and six members respectively. SBSP has already made it clear that it will be voting for NDA candidate Murmu,'' the deputy CM said.

When asked how many of 111 SP members are voting for the NDA candidate, Pathak said, ''It will not be fair to tell the numbers but one thing is sure that a large number of their MLAs did not want to vote for Sinha and favour Murmu.'' On being called 'Pracharjivi' (propagandist) by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Pathak said, ''You know there is no agenda of SP. They only have hooligan and mafia elements and with their strength, they want to catapult themselves to power. When they are in power, they promote such elements.'' Pathak said Mulayam Singh Yadav is a very senior leader and all parties respect him and slammed Akhilesh Yadav for ''tolerating'' what has been said against his father by Sinha. ''No one can tolerate insults to their father in Indian culture.'' ''Samajwadi Party is a sinking ship and no one wants to ride on it, nobody wants to sit on it. The public punished him properly for his misdeeds,'' he said.

He further said, ''We believe in Indian culture. The SP is like an inauspicious planet in the horoscope of Uttar Pradesh. Whenever these people remained in power, they hurt the dignity of UP and hindered development. ''Goons, mafia, mining mafia have been encouraged in the state and the people of the state are well aware that whenever they come to power, UP will be disturbed, so they have been pushed to the margins''.

Pathak, who came to vote in the assembly along with SBSP chief Omprakash Rajbhar, when asked whether the BSP, SBSP and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), which supported Murmu can come together for 2024 polls, said, ''We welcome those who unite with us to make the country powerful.'' Asked to elaborate, he said, ''Wait for the time, it will be told when the time comes.'' PTI AR/ABN NB TDS TDS