Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav paid tributes to socialist icon Ram Manohar Lohia on his death anniversary on Thursday and pledged to follow the path shown by him to strengthen socialism.

"We remember Ram Manohar Lohia who showed the path of socialism to save society from evil and end inequality. Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) worked on this path.

"We pledge to work on this path to strengthen socialism and take it forward in future."

Born in 1910, Lohia enriched socialist politics with his ideas rooted in grassroots and mass politics and was also instrumental in spearheading an alliance of opposition parties to a position to challenge the then-dominant Congress party.?

He died in 1967 and has been an inspiration for a host of leaders and different political parties.

-With PTI Input