It is an honour to be praised by Narendra Modi: Mulayam Singh Yadav

Lucknow: In the backdrop of praises showered on him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday said it was matter of honour for him and his party. However, he attacked the BJP saying it has "cheated" people by telling "lies".

"PM Narendra Modi praising me and my party is a matter of honour for me, but we will not allow the Centre to take any anti-people action," Yadav said while addressing party workers during a programme to pay tribute to late former MP Mohan Singh.

Narendra Modi had recently praised SP supremo for his efforts to end Parliament logjam by distancing himself from Congress' protest, which stalled House proceedings throughout the monsoon session.

"Mulayam Singh is in the opposition. He criticizes us. Yet, for protecting the democracy, he made every effort so that Parliament be allowed to function," Modi had said while addressing a public rally at Saroorpur village in Saharanpur district.

Yadav said, "BJP has cheated the people by telling lies and they (people) have realized its reality. They promised to bring back blackmoney and deposit Rs 15 lakh in every individual's bank account, but did it happened."

The SP supremo said that though the party has only five members in Lok Sabha, it had cornered the Centre on several issues and forced it to step back. He said that SP believed in the politics of change.

"Poor, backward, Dalits, down trodden, minorities, farmers and labourers cannot be made prosperous without changing the system," Yadav said.

"The path of samajwad is difficult, but the country and society can only be made prosperous by following it," he added.

He termed Mohan Singh as a true Samajwadi and a learned politician and said that he joined SP on the insistence of Madhu Limaye and remained with it throughout his life.

"We worked dedicatedly to strengthen SP and his death caused an immense loss to the party," he said. Yadav also released a book based on speeches and write ups of Mohan Singh on the occasion.

Paying his tribute, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said that Singh followed the politics of principles and made his mark since student politics.