UP Elections 2017: Mulayam Singh said Samajwadi Party need not have allied with the Congress.
Hours after Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi led a joint rally of the Samajwadi Party and the Congress in Lucknow today, Mulayam Singh Yadav said he did not approve of the alliance and would not campaign, reported news agency ANI. The alliance had been crafted after Akhilesh Yadav had wrested the control of the party from his father, backed by a majority of the party's legislators. The Senior Yadav has been given a ceremonial role as the party's mentor or margdarshak. Today's rally that went over a 6-km stretch of Lucknow's most populated areas, had been attended by at least 15,000 people.
Here are the 10 developments:
"The Samajwadi Party is completely capable of fighting elections alone. When we did that, we formed government with a majority. So this was not needed. So I am completely against this alliance, I won't campaign," Mr Singh said. The alliance between the two parties was sealed last week after tough negotiations on seat sharing.
Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi had flagged off their joint campaign in Lucknow with a mega Rath Yatra. The rally went through the densely populated areas and the Muslim majority zones and stopped at the Ghanta Ghar.
There, the two leaders had addressed the crowds, launching a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.
Earlier, the two leaders had addressed a joint press conference, during which Rahul Gandhi said he was "personally happy" that the alliance has worked out. "The alliance is against Modi's politics... Akhilesh and I have a personal equation as well as political relation".
"Rahul and I are like two wheels of the same cycle... No one doubts that we will win all seats," Akhilesh Yadav had said.
Rahul Gandhi also said he would "continue to support Priyanka (sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra)" the way she supports him. "Priyanka is an asset to the Congress... She has been instrumental in major party decisions," he added. In a first, the party has credited Ms Vadra with steering the alliance.
Playing down the issue of differences with Samajwadi Party over Amethi and Raebareli seats, Mr Gandhi said it was a "peripheral issue". The 10 seats in Amethi and Raebareli were said to have been a key point of disagreement between the two parties. They later decided to contest 5 seats each.
Akhilesh Yadav is hoping that the alliance will help it counter rival Mayawati and the BJP in the elections which begins next month. The tagline for the parties' joint campaign reads "UP koh yeh saath pasand hai (UP likes this tie-up)" - a point both leaders emphasized on during the media address.
Even before the alliance materialized, the two leaders had indicated amity, with Mr Gandhi terming Mr Yadav "a good boy", who reciprocated with the same phrase.
Under the terms of the alliance announced last Sunday, the Congress will contest 105 seats, the Samajwadi Party the rest of the state's 403 seats.
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