SP hoarding ‘thanks’ Mulayam Singh for ‘advising surgical strikes’

Lucknow: While the clamour around the surgical strikes by the Indian Army across the LoC refuses to die down, a hoarding put up by an over-enthusiastic Samajwadi Party (SP) worker has further stirred a hornet’s nest, after claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned the strikes on the advice of party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

According to reports, the hoarding, placed at Novelty Chowk in Lucknow features Mulayam Singh, son Akhilesh, and reads, “The Indian Army which carried out the strike and enhanced India’s pride globally are heroes; those who play toxic politics in the name of the Army are zeroes.” It went on to thank Mulayam Singh for advising Modi to carry out the surgical strikes.

The hoarding also features Mohammed Shamsher Malik, the district president of Samajwadi Yuvjan Sabha, who commissioned the poster.

When confronted, Mallik said that ‘leaders’ in the district share what they discussed with leaders in Lucknow and Delhi. “I got to know from them and realized the common man must know the truth, about who advised the Union government on such a bold step,” he said.

Meanwhile, Shyamlal Saini, the party president in Muzzaffarnagar distanced the party from the whole episode, but added “We know that the Centre took the decision of conducting surgical strikes taking all the senior politicians in confidence. As Netaji has been defence minister in past, government would certainly have discussed the matter with him before taking such a bold step. We see no harm if someone among us praises the Indian Army and our leaders for conducting surgical strikes in PoK.”

PTI