Next President of India : SP still a divided house

Mulayam had on Tuesday said he had 'long standing and great relations' with Kovind and described him as a 'wonderful choice for President'.

The rift between Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav seemed to have deepened over NDA's decision to nominate former Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind as their candidate for the upcoming presidential elections.

The father and son appeared to have divergent views on Kovind's candidature with Mulayam welcoming the decision while Akhilesh saying that he would take a call after meeting like-minded parties, including Congress.

The Congress-led opposition's meeting on the matter is scheduled to be held in the national capital on June 22.

Mulayam had on Tuesday said he had 'long standing and great relations' with Kovind and described him as a 'wonderful choice for President'. He had also said the BJP had selected a strong candidate.

Akhilesh, on the other hand, said UP Governor Ram Naik would have been the right choice for the BJP to project as the candidate for the top post. Akhilesh also downplayed BJP's attempt to project Kovind to reach out to Dalits.

He reportedly said, "The President's post should be above caste and religion."

In a dinner hosted by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for Narendra Modi, Mulayam was seen sitting next to the Prime Mnister while Akhilesh skipped the dinner.

It must be recalled that in January Akhilesh had staged a coup to get elected as party chief and oust his uncle Shivpal Yadav. He also overturned many of the decisions taken my Mulayam, including the list of candidates announced by the veteran leader to contest UP polls.

Akhilesh also went against Mulayam's advice to not ally with the Congress for the UP assembly elections.

OneIndia News