INDIA bloc unity sham, separate candidature in MLC election exposes it: UP deputy chief minister

Lucknow, Aug 26 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Tuesday attacked the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, saying that the two parties contesting the 11 MLC seats separately had exposed the rift within the INDIA bloc.  He said the opposition alliance is based solely on "opportunism and lust for power" and lacks any ideological commitment or serious consideration for the public.  "Both Congress and SP are deceiving the public. On the one hand, they talk about an alliance, and on the other, they are contesting separately for the 11 MLC seats. This makes it clear that the INDI Alliance is only a sham. This alliance is another attempt to mislead the public, which has been exposed," Pathak said in a statement.

He also claimed that the NDA candidate for the Vice Presidential election, CP Radhakrishnan, will win with a huge number of votes.   Pathak said the Congress turned the whole of India into a "prison" by imposing the Emergency and alleged that it strangled democracy by dismissing 90 state governments elected by the public at different times.  He termed the period the "darkest chapter" of Indian democracy.  Pathak also alleged that when the Samajwadi Party was in power, it patronised goons and the mafia.  He said women used to be scared of the SP, and its workers were wont to declaim, "Samajwad ka nara hai, khali plot hamara hai."  PTI NAV VN VN