Within the sea of people who descended on Saifai mela floor in Etawah on Tuesday morning below the overcast sky to pay their final respects to Samajwadi Get together founder and “son of the soil” Mulayam Singh Yadav was a 58-year-old girl who had travelled from close by Mainpuri district, a 15-year-old boy who “owes” his research to “Netaji”, and a mahant from Prayagraj who believes that the previous chief minister solely acted as per regulation when his authorities ordered police firing on kar sevaks in Ayodhya in 1990.
“Netaji thought of me as a sister and touched my ft every time we met,” stated 58-year-old Shridevi as she jostled by means of the group to make her strategy to the rostrum the place the mortal stays of the 82-year-old chief had been stored for the individuals to pay their final respects.
“I’ve attended Teepu’s wedding ceremony and likewise Teju’s… Now we have household relations with Netaji and that’s the reason I got here to see him for one final time. However there’s such an enormous crowd, I gained’t be capable to attain the rostrum,” she says with a touch of despair in her voice.
Whereas Mulayam’s son and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav known as Teepu by his household, Teju is Tej Pratap Yadav, Mulayam’s grand nephew.
Shridevi and her sister-in-law Amishri (52) took a bus from their ‘sasural’ in Maulikhera village in Mainpuri district to achieve the funeral floor, 20 km away. Saifai occurs to be Shridevi’s “maikaa”, she was born there.
At one level, each girls had been capable of attain near the rostrum, however they had been despatched again by safety personnel. Seeing the group and chaos throughout within the humid climate, they dropped the concept of constructing one other try to achieve the stage. As a substitute, they stood precariously on plastic chairs to get a glimpse of Netaji.
“I’ve met Netaji a number of instances in Saifai and Mainpuri, however couldn’t see him then as a result of each time I used to be in ghoonghat. As we speak, I wished to see him earlier than his cremation. He had helped in my daughter’s marriage seven years in the past,” stated Amishri.
Whereas Shridevi and Amishri, who come from farming households, couldn’t make it to the dais, class X pupil Vishal Yadav managed to achieve the rostrum.
“How can I miss this second when Netaji is not any extra? As we speak, my household is ready to afford my research as a result of when Netaji was chief minister he had given a authorities job to my uncle who financially helps my father, a farmer,” stated the 15-year-old amid deafening chants of “Netaji amar rahein” (lengthy reside Netaji).
“No matter improvement work has been performed in Saifai is due to Netaji,” he added.
“Due to Netaji, my village has obtained good roads and a faculty. That college is called after Netaji,” stated 62-year-old Rajkumar, who had come from Nagla Rao village in Jaswant Nagar, 15 km from Saifai. He had met Mulayam 15 years in the past when the SP chief visited his Nagla Rao to satisfy his childhood good friend Maharaj Singh Yadav.
“Seven individuals from my village obtained authorities jobs when Netaji was CM. As a courtesy, I got here right here to pay tribute,” Rajkumar, a farmer, stated, including that “100 per cent” votes of his village go to SP in all elections due to Mulayam.
Within the crowd, saffron-clad Mahant Laxman Das was additionally seen making an attempt to achieve the rostrum, however like many others, he failed. Laxman Das, a priest of Shree Thakur Radha Krishna temple in Prayagraj, had reached Saifai on Monday night hours after the information of Mulayam’s dying broke. When requested why he wished to pay tribute to Mulayam who had ordered the firing on kar sevaks in Ayodhya in 1990 when he was the chief minister, Laxman Das replied: “However he was a Hindu. He helped individuals of each faith and caste who met him. His rivals, just like the BJP individuals, created a pro-Muslim picture of him by highlighting the Ayodhya concern in order that they’ll make political good points. And so they did.”
Non secular preacher Dinesh Chandra Shastri of Mainpuri district agreed with Das. “Netaji was by no means in opposition to Ram temple and Hindus. He simply adopted the regulation at the moment. He obtained Hanuman’s big idol put in in a temple in Saifai village. As we speak, he’s being cremated on the bottom close to the identical temple,” Shastri stated, pointing to an enormous statue of Hanuman overlooking the mela floor.
Within the crowd, there was Shubham Shakya of Karhal in Mainpuri district. The medical consultant, in his 30s, had reached Saifai out of sheer pleasure to see politicians, industrialists and celebrities. “I additionally heard that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will come right here. I wished to see him as nicely. These fleets of SUVs and the presence of outstanding leaders make me realise that Saifai gave start to a pacesetter who was revered by everybody slicing throughout political events,” Shakya stated.