Prepare for Lok Sabha polls anytime next year: Mulayam

Lucknow/New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav Friday asked his party workers to brace up for the Lok Sabha polls which he predicted could be held anytime 'after a year'.

In reaction, the Congress rejected any chance of a mid-term poll, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the SP was responsible for bailing out the government on and off.

Addressing a gathering at Lohia Park in Lucknow on the 102nd birth anniversary of his mentor and socialist thinker Ram Manohar Lohia, Mulayam Singh said his party 'government should come true to the expectations of the people' if they wanted to reap dividends in the Lok Sabha polls.

'Lok Sabha elections can happen any time after a year, and so the party machinery should be ready for early polls,' he said while pointing out that people had very high expectations from the party this time and there was no way that they can squander the mandate.

Earlier this week, at a press conference at the party office, Mulayam Singh had said that he was not joining the United Progressive Alliance II as there 'was just one year left and there was no use of joining the central government'.

In New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi rejected any prospect of a mid-term poll.

'There is no question of any mid-term poll, our government will complete its full term,' Alvi told reporters.

'We have majority in the house so there is no question of mid-term poll,' he said.

The Congress leader also said no one was ready for Lok Sabha election at present.

BJP leader Arun Jaitley, however, agreed with the SP chief but took a jibe at him saying his party had bailed out the Congress on a number of times.

'If his (Mulayam Singh's) party (SP) stops bailing out the government, maybe what he said will come true,' Jaitley said adding that the SP has always been against Congress.

The SP had recently bailed out the Congress-led UPA government on the issue of National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in both houses. Ruling out joining the government, Mulayam Singh has said that the SP will continue to extend issue-based support to the UPA government to stop communal forces from grabbing power.

Another BJP leader Balbir Punj said mid-term poll was the only choice for the country.

'The way central government has become shaky and unstable... and there is no hierarchy... mid-term elections are the only option,' Punj told a TV channel.

Mulayam Singh, in his speech also gave the newly-elected Uttar Pradesh government led by his son Akhilesh Yadav six months to 'show results'. Yadav said though he was not the chief minister he would be watching every step of the government, its officials and ministers.

Exhorting partymen and ministers to live up to the socialist ideology, he even took pot shots at certain speakers who, speaking before him, told the crowd to ensure that 'Netaji' became the prime minister in 2014.

'I know how one becomes prime minister, so leave that to me and work hard for the people so as to ensure an emphatic victory for the Samajwadi Party in the parliamentary elections,' he mused.

Speaking on the occasion, Akhilesh Yadav said a road map for development of the state was being made and the state would soon see changes in government functioning.