Supporting UPA only to keep communal forces at bay: Akhilesh

Uttar Pardesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said the Samajwadi Party is supporting the Congress-led government at the Centre only to keep the communal forces at bay, and does not endorse it over issues like coal and 2G scam.

Yadav said it was the SP which was at the forefront in protesting against several corruption cases, including the 2G and Coal scam, during the second tenure of the UPA.

The Samajwadi Party played a major role in the constitution of the Joint Parliamentary Commission in the 2G scam, he said.

Taking a dig at media surveys which have shown BJP leading in the state, the chief minister claimed his party would be the largest after the polls.

When asked about the formation of a Third Front, he said it would emerge as a powerful bloc after the Lok Sabha polls, adding that the front is already working in several states including Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Bihar.

Criticising the BJP, he said that the saffron party doesn't want development, it only uses it as tool to grab power.

Asked about the BJP's claim of Narendra Modi wave sweeping the country and of winning 60 seats in UP, Yadav said people know that the BJP wants to win polls on communal issues and the SP has always fought these forces.

"Today, it's very easy to be communal but very difficult to remain secular. Samajwardi Party knows how to fight these communal forces," he said after the inauguration of the high-tech police control room in Kanpur.

The chief minister said that the people vote the party to power which works for development and Samajwadi Party has fulfilled all its promises made in the party manifesto.

He further said that people will vote SP because of its welfare schemes including the laptop distribution scheme.