Lucknow, Nov 22 (IANS) Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav celebrated his 71st birthday Sunday when he asked his party cadres to reach out to the rural population.
Addressing over 500 party workers who gathered at the party headquarters for celebrations, Yadav told them that demonstrating on roads and courting arrest in large numbers cannot be termed a revolution.

“We should reach out to the rural and poor population and make them aware of education and employment,” he said.

There are educated people in rural and poor areas and we need them to build a stronger base for the party, he added.

Yadav also warned the Congress-led central government of similar protests like the one held in New Delhi last week to demand a better deal for sugarcane farmers.

“The state is having a huge quantity of standing paddy crops and the central government is still planning to import rice. We will again head for Delhi and hold a similar demonstration if the government goes ahead with its plan,” Yadav said.

Earlier in the day, Yadav cut a 71 kg cake brought by his supporters. Even after he left the party office at around 1 p.m., his supporters continued to dance and celebrate.

But his son Akhilesh Yadav and party general secretary Amar Singh were not present. Mulayam Singh Yadav was accompanied by his younger brother Shivpal Yadav and other state party leaders.