Akhilesh-Mulayam meet: When father proposed and son opposed

In spite of repeated attempts by both the factions of Samajwadi Party to meet and iron out differences, there seems to be least chances of a truce now.

Lucknow, Jan 11: The father proposed, but the son opposed. Mulayam Singh Yadav's last ditch attempt to bring son Akhilesh on board appears to have failed with the latter rejecting every offer made by his father.

On Tuesday, a meeting between the father and the son in Lucknow to strike peace within the Samajwadi Party failed and Akhilesh refused to step down as party president as well as withdraw his application before the Election Commission of India in which he claimed the SP's symbol.

During the Tuesday afternoon meet, Mulayam told his son that he would be the chief minister if the SP is voted to power. He, however, told Akhilesh to step down as the party president as well withdraw the application before the ECI.

Akhilesh, however, refused to do both. He told his father that he would not step down as president of the party at least till the elections were over. He also said that he would not be withdrawing the application.

It was clear that Akhilesh had the numbers and hence was able to refuse both offers made by his father. During the meeting that lasted an hour, Mulayam made several offers including keeping brother Shivpal Yadav out of the election process. He even said that Amar Singh will kept out of the process.

To this Akhilesh said that he wanted Mulayam to accept the decision of his faction which decided to throw Singh out of the party. Mulayam however refused to accept this decision.

"Do you want me to trust Shivpal and Singh? I do not trust them and they will create trouble ahead of the polls," Akhilesh told his father. Mulayam, however, said that it was his responsibility to keep both out of the poll process.

"You step down as the president first and I will ensure that Shivpal and Singh do not create any problems," Mulayam told his son.

Uttar Pradesh goes to polls on February 11. The seven phase polling would end on March 8 and the results declared on March 11.

OneIndia News