Mulayam supports Mayawati over Reliance retail closure

Lucknow, Sep 14 (UNI) In a surpise political move, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav today came in support of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, agreeing with her government's decision to order closure of Reliance retail outlets in the state.

''The action of the Mayawati government was on the lines of the SP move, who have opposed the entry of the retail sector in the state'', he said while talking to reporters here.

While admitting that the ban on Reliance retail might affect the private investment in the state, Mr Yadav said the present government took the decision in favour of the farmers and small traders of the state. '' We have to loose something to give big relief to the poor masses of the state'', he opined.

On August 23, chief minister Mayawati had ordered closure of all the Reliance retail outlets in the state following an agitation by the Samajwadi Party led traders outfit on August 22, the day when the Reliance outlets were inaugurated in the state capital.

Similarly on that day, the government withdrew its ambitious new Agricutlure Policy and contract farming, which was launched on August 3, following opposition by about 60 per cent of the farmers, the government had claimed.

The state government had also set up a high-level committee under the chairmanship of cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh to go through the entire matter on the Reliance retail and directed to submit its report by September 22.

Meanwhile a faction of the Bharitya Kishan Union(BKU) has launched an agitation in the state capital in favour of the Reliance retail claiming that it will improve the socio-economic condition of the farmers.

UNI