Mulayam Made Me Chief Minister, Will Quit If He Wants: Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow: Akhilesh Yadav will not quit his father's Samajwadi Party even if he is removed as Chief Minister, the 43-year-old told NDTV today.

"I was made Chief Minister by the party president who is my father. If he asks me to step down, I certainly will," Akhilesh said in Lucknow the midst of a floor-to-ceiling conflict with father Mulayam Singh.

Dismissing talk of whether he would launch his own political start-up, Akhilesh said that "if I am removed, I will campaign for him."

"Like a horse in a race has blinkers on and it doesn't look anywhere else, I am looking at the next election. I have no other plans," he added.

Mr Yadav's assurances come hours after Mulayam Singh made it clear that though the Chief Minister will be allowed to complete his term, it is not a given that he will return to office even if the Samajwadi Party wins the approaching election in Uttar Pradesh.

"Remember the 2012 election was fought in my name," said Mulayam Singh pointedly today. His son's supporters have been claiming that it was a 38-year-old Akhilesh's outreach to the youth of the state that delivered Uttar Pradesh to the Samajwadi Party in the last state election. "First give us a majority, then we will see who will be Chief Minister," he said, adding that Samajwadi legislators will vote for their new leader if the party manages a second consecutive term.

Mulayam Singh's remarks were made at a press conference where he was seated next to younger brother Shivpal Yadav, who he has backed robustly in a long-running dispute with the Chief Minister. "The Chief Minister must be watching this, he will decide," said Mulayam Singh, when asked about whether Shivpal and three other ministers sacked by Akhilesh on Sunday will be reinstated.

He was more direct in reaffirming his support for Shivpal and close friend Amar Singh, who Team Akhilesh holds responsible for instigating the current crisis.

Shivpal, sources say, wants Akhilesh removed as Chief Minister and entertains the belief that he could take over if the party's election bid succeeds. Akhilesh, for his part, has reportedly conveyed to his father that he needs Shivpal and Amar Singh sidelined.

Last month, Mulayam Singh removed Akhilesh as head of the party in Uttar Pradesh, replacing him with Shivpal, which meant that the crucial authority of deciding candidates was transferred away from the Chief Minister.

Today's comments from both Akhilesh and Mulayam Singh suggest a considerable cooling off after a toxic party meeting yesterday attended by four hundred Samajwadi legislators and leaders. Akhilesh and Shivpal flung accusations at each other. The conclave ended in chaos after Shivpal grabbed the mic from Akhilesh and called him "a liar."

Since then, Mulayam Singh has been trying to forge a truce that does not involve diminishing the status of Shivpal and Amar Singh.