JOIN USUP's Raja Bhaiya praises Modi now
In what could be seen as a huge embarrassment for the Samajwadi Party and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh.
Yadav, a senior minister on Friday heaped praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
‘Muscleman’ politician and state’s Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya praised the six-month tenure of the Modi government and said that it was “doing good”.
“Abhi tak to theek kaam kar rahi hai” (so far it is doing well), Singh said when queried about the performance of the central government. Singh made the remark at Mathura on Friday.
The minister’s praise did not go well with the SP, though party leaders refrained from openly criticising Singh.
“Singh should remember that he is a minister in the state government. He should not have praised the BJP government at the Centre,” said a senior SP leader.
The remarks had come at a time, when Akhilesh and the SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav had been attacking the Centre almost on a daily basis.
Party sources also said Singh, who was elected as an independent MLA from Kunda but had later joined the SP, might well be exploring the possibility of aligning with the BJP in the near future.
BJP leaders, however, refused to attach much importance to the remarks though they were not at all surprised by Singh’s praise of Modi. “Modi is doing well. It is a truth. It is an honest admission”, quipped a BJP leader here.
Raja Bhaiya was sacked by Akhilesh Yadav after his name cropped up in the case of murder of a senior UP police official.
He was taken back after being given a clean chit by CBI.
He had later joined the Samajwadi Party and is considered to be close to Mulayam Singh.
A CBI court had, however, a few months back rejected the CBI’s report in the case and ordered reinvestigation of the matter.