Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said Tuesday his father and party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav had forged the relationship with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and he only had to ‘mend’ it. He also stated it was not time yet for Mulayam to become the Prime Minister.
“Netaji (Mulayam) had relations with the BSP and had forged an alliance earlier. I only had to mend the relationship,” Akhilesh said, replying to questions during a TV programme.
When asked to answer in ‘yes’ or ‘no’ whether Mulayam would become the Prime Minister this time, Akhilesh stated, “No, not as of now. But he will be given the due honour.”
Responding to reports on the possibility of him contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Azamgarh, the seat represented by his father, Akhilesh indicated that the option was open. “Let a proposal come from the district unit,” he said.
The SP chief also claimed that workers of the two parties (the other being BSP) would have no problems working together as proper groundwork has been done. “We have done the ground work. The SP and the BSP have forged an alliance on 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state. And accordingly we will work,” Akhilesh asserted.
According to the seat-sharing arrangement, the SP will contest 37 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and the BSP will contest 38. They have left three seats for the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and two for Congress president Rahul Gandhi (Amethi) and his mother Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli).
Speaking about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s entry into politics, Akhilesh said, “All youths should come forward.”
He also claimed that BJP was using the Pulwama terror attack, February 14 as a ploy to distract the people.
“The BJP is an expert in distracting people. Everyone knows that if the US and other countries had not supported India on (Wing Commander) Abhinandan’s release, the fighter pilot would not have returned,” Akhilesh pointed out. “He returned not because of the BJP,” added the SP chief.
PTI