Mulayam Singh Yadav will campaign for us, alliance with Congress to firm up verdict: Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi during their road show in Lucknow on Sunday. (Source: PTI)

A day after Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav spoke out against the party’s alliance with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, speaking to news channel NDTV, expressed confidence in the party winning the assembly elections alone, but added that an alliance will “firm up the verdict”. On Sunday, Mulayam ruled out campaigning for the alliance and blamed the SP for conceding ground to the Congress by giving them 105 seats as part of the seat-sharing agreement. Akhilesh, however, claimed that Mulayam would campaign for the alliance. “I am sure Mulayam Singh Yadav will campaign for us,” Akhilesh said. Saying that he has always worked diligently towards Uttar Pradesh’s progress, Akhilesh claimed that he has improved the law and order situation in the state.

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In their first joint press conference on Sunday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh have hit out against the BJP and claimed that the alliance would clinch Uttar Pradesh with a 300+ seats margin. Rahul described the alliance as a confluence of the rivers Ganga and Yamuna, and said the progress would flow like Saraswati. After the press briefing, they embarked on a 12-km roadshow in Lucknow that drew crowds in huge numbers. The two parties entered into an alliance to defeat the “divisive politics” allegedly perpetuated by the BJP. Uttar Pradesh will go to polls on February 11. Counting of votes will begin on March 11.