Lucknow: In his first public event in Lucknow after forming the Samajwadi Secular Morcha, Shivpal Yadav said Tuesday he launched a new front to protect his "honour" and not to seek any post in the Samajwadi Party.
He did not name his estranged nephew and SP president Akhilesh Yadav during his address at the programme but said, "Nowadays people only eye posts". Shivpal Yadav quit the SP and launched his Samajwadi Secular Morcha on August 29.
"I never wanted to part ways (with the Samajwadi Party). I only wanted honour, which I didn't get after change of leadership in the party. I never wanted posts. I took this step (of forming the Morcha) out of compulsion to protect honour," Shivpal Yadav said.
Citing the Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayana, Shivpal Yadav said, "Whenever anyone did not follow the path of 'dharma', he witnesses same the fate as 'Kans' and 'Ravana'. Dharma says everyone should get justice. Those who follow the path of truth wins at last."
"I used to run cycle through the days but now running them for a few hours is considered a big achievement," he said referring to the SP's election symbol.
He said he got government jobs in an inter-college and as a field officer in a bank but he joined politics on the directions of his elder brother Mulayam Singh Yadav.
"I had also washed clothes of 'netaji' (Mulayam). I always helped everyone but was cheated many times. I can tolerate 'chori' (theft) but not "dakaiti' (robbery)", he said.
He said he would fight for "social justice" through the Morcha. There is no point "re-considering" the decision to quit the SP, he added.
"In assembly elections too, attempts were made to ensure my defeat but I won with a margin of over 50,000 votes. In Mahabharata, the Pandavs had asked for five villages, but I never asked for anything," he said.
Shivpal Yadav had launched the Morcha, saying he would seek support of "neglected" party workers for it.
He later announced his Morcha would contest on all 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
He had maintained a low profile after the feud in the Samajwadi family broke into the open before 2017 assembly elections.
He was removed from the post of SP state unit president after Akhilesh Yadav assumed charge as national president.
The senior leader was not invited to the SP's national executive or any other meeting since then.
Former minister Kamal Yusuf and former MP Raghuraj Shakya were among those present at the programme Tuesday. Slogans to make Shivpal Yadav the next Uttar Pradesh chief minister were also raised at the event.
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