No ticket for those with criminal past: Mulayam

Lucknow, Aug 5 (IANS) Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said on Wednesday that his party won’t field candidates with criminal background in the 2017 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

He was speaking at a function to mark the 83rd birth anniversary of late socialist ideologue Janeshwar Mishra.

In an apparent dig at his chief minister son Akhilesh Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav said a fact-finding report on his party’s defeat rout by the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha battle was yet to be given to him.

Terming the coming Panchayat elections a rehearsal for the 2017 assembly polls, he urged party workers to introspect why the Samajwadi Party got only five of the 80 Lok Sabha seats.

He urged party leaders to ensure that the party was not discredited due to the unruly behaviour of anyone.

A cycle yatra kicked off on the occasion will travel to various parts of the state to highlight the government’s achievements.