Sabka sath, sabka vikas is a lie, says Mulayam Singh Yadav

New Delhi, Feb 25: Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday slammed the government, saying its slogan of 'sabka sath, sabka vikas' is a "lie" as its developmental pitch is only for the benefit of industrialists and not the common man.

Participating in a debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address in

, Yadav justified his invitation to Modi for his grand nephew's pre-wedding ceremony last week, saying he is the Prime Minister, not of the BJP, but of the country.

"Some people, including those in my village were wondering why I invited him to Saifai (in Uttar Pradesh). I invited the Prime Minister to my village as he is the PM of India, not of BJP," Yadav said.

Modi on Saturday had attended the pre-wedding 'tilak' ceremony of Yadav's grand nephew Tej Pratap with RJD chief Lalu Prasad's youngest daughter Raj Lakshmi. The SP chief said his party would support the Modi government if it works towards making India "strong".

His assurance of conditional support came at the fag end of his 40-minute address which was peppered with attacks on the government and Modi.

"Your slogan of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas' (development of all) is a lie. I want to know whether your pitch for development was limited to a select people... Did you not support only the industrialists by the Ordinance? Was it meant to benefit the common man or farmer," Yadav said.

Taking a dig at Modi for his 'swachh Bharat' campaign, the former Union Minister said, "mere wielding a broom will not help in cleanliness".

He noted that Modi had cleaned Assi Ghat in his Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency by wielding a broom himself. "But things are back to what they were earlier...how can you clean Ganga without cleaning the tributaries?....You will have to remove poverty to clean India," the former UP Chief Minister said.

Referring to the controversial Land Ordinance, now introduced as a bill in the Lok Sabha, Yadav said the government must desist from acquiring fertile land. He said barren land can be used to set up factories and gave the example of areas near Agra and Banda in UP.

PTI