New Delhi: Congress MP Raj Babbar today took
a swipe at Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav for challenging
Rahul Gandhi following the defeat of his wife Dimple Yadav in
Firozabad Lok Sabha by-elections.
"This could be personal for anybody. I can also compare
myself with Marlon Brando or Robert De-niro.... Everybody has
right to say anything," he said in reply to a question whether
Akhilesh Yadav was comparing himself to Rahul Gandhi when he
said he was ready to accept the challenge thrown by Gandhi in
UP.
Asked further on this comparison between the two youth
leaders, who are called `Yuvraj` by their respective
supporters, the new Congress MP said, "I don`t know who calls
whom Yuvraj but my leader is Rahul Gandhi."
He also took a dig at the SP general secretary Amar
Singh saying he may not be proving useful for the party.
"I had seen him putting a mask on his mouth. It looks his
health is not okay. Naturally when one`s health is not
correct, one cannot think properly...he may not be proving
useful for the party," Babbar said when asked to comment on
Amar Singh yesterday reportedly writing a letter to the SP
chief saying he wants to distance himself from candidate
selection process in UP.
Babbar, a former Samajwadi Party leader developed serious
differences with Singh before he quit the party and joined
Congress.
Babbar evaded a direct reply whether the SP general
secretary should renounce politics saying "How can I say. If I
am ill, I have to decide which doctor I have to go to. How do
I know what ailment he has."
Asked whether he feels bad that he won from the seat
defeating the daughter in law of the SP chief, who had brought
him into politics, Babbar said, "I did not defeat anybody. I
am thankful to Mulayam Singh ji that he made me an MP but I
was in active politics for long."
The Congress MP said that the Yadav community played a
key role in his victory from the seat.
Asked whether his victory from the SP`s stronghold
denotes any rejection of dynastic politics by the SP
chief, Babbar said, "... If SP is doing caste politics, Yadav
community does not tolerate domination of anybody."
"If any body says I am the the only leader of Yadavs,
I don`t think Yadavs will tolerate it. They cannot tolerate
injustice or anybody`s domination."
The Congress MP, accompanied by AICC general secretary
in-charge for Uttar Pradesh Digivijay Singh, also met Congress
President Sonia Gandhi in the morning.
"She told me to work hard now after I have become an MP.
We have to do much in UP," Babbar said when asked about the
meeting.
To a question on whether he was hopeful of getting any
ministry in UPA cabinet, he said, "I have to get work done
from ministers. Why should I be waiting to become one."
He also said he would work with full dedication in any
position the party finds him suitable for.
Bureau Report
