22 November,2015 07:49 AM IST | | Agencies
BJP, Congress call Mulayam birthday celebrations a wastage of money
Village women wait to welcome SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on his 77th birthday in Saifee on Saturday. pic/PTI
Saifai: For the people of Saifai, the native village of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, it is like Diwali all over again. Decked out in flowers and lights, buildings are wearing a bridal look for the celebration tomorrow of the 76th birthday of Mulayam, popularly known by the sobriquet of "netaji".
Village women wait to welcome SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on his 77th birthday in Saifee on Saturday. pic/PTI
A cultural extravaganza, including a performance by Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman and his 300-member troupe, has been lined up as part of the three-day bash. "Netaji's ties with Saifai are emotional. He is a father figure, our godfather," said Mahesh Yadav, an enthusiastic youth worker who was busy organising the grand show. Arrangements have been made to shower rose petals on the SP supremo when he lands at the airstrip outside Saifai, where large-sized LED screens have been set up at vantage points to telecast live the razzmatazz birthday party.
A 76-kg cake has been ordered to mark the occasion while mouth-watering Italian, Chinese and Thai dishes will be prepared by renowned chefs from Delhi and Mumbai to treat around one lakh guests from a wide spectrum of the society. The guest list includes former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, and Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Hrithik Roshan to business tycoons. The grand show has the disapproval of BJP and Congress who described it as a wastage of public money. "Fifty of the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh have been declared drought-hit; the money could have been distributed among the affected farmers," said BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur.
