Mulayam dismisses Rahul’s stature

Attacking his detractors in New Delhi, he said: ‘‘Bahut bol rahen hain. Dilli aur Bambaee ko to dekhen. Rail men bhi murder ho rahe hain, yeh nahin dikh rahe hain (they are speaking too much. Just look at Delhi and Mumbai. Murders have been taking place in running trains, but these they cannot see).’’

Mulayam claimed the law and order situation in UP was the best in the country, with Delhi and Mumbai topping the crime graph. He said certain elements with the Samajwadi Party dubbed as ‘‘goonde aur badmash’’ became ‘‘sadhus, tapasvis aur paropkari (saints, mendicants and benefactors) on joining the BJP and Congress.

‘‘Kya karen. Sadhu ab Dilli pahunch gaye hain, pehle Bhajapa ke saath the ab Congress ke saath hain (The sadhus have now reached Delhi. Earlier, they were a part of the BJP, now they are with the Congress),’’ Yadav said.

Referring to BJP’s defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, Yadav said: ‘‘Do you know who is it we defeated in the recent elections? Who ensured the defeat of Murli Manohar Joshi, Swami Chinmayanand and Vinay Katiyar? Of course, the Samajwadi Party,’’ adding, ‘‘Everybody knows it isn’t easy to dislodge my government.’’