UP assembly polls 2017: Mulayam puts brother before son

With this statement, Mulayam has shown where his favour lies

Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday said that he would first campaign for his brother Shivpal Singh Yadav and only then his son and Chief Minister Akhilesh. Mulayam's statement comes days after Shivpal spoke of floating a new party after assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Through his statement on Friday, Mulayam reiterated where his favour lies.

Mulayam is all set to hit the campaign trail starting February 9 after keeping everyone guessing. His first campaign, he said, will begin from Jaswantnagar where the SP has fielded the four-time MLA, Shivpal as its candidate. It may be noted that before becoming Shivpal's bastion, the Jaswantnagar assembly constituency was Mulayam's own.

Mulayam has earlier refused to campaign for the SP-Congress alliance in the state. The Rashtriya Janata Dal had attempted to woo the SP veteran to campaign for them but Mulayam once again made a flip-flop and announced that 'Akhilesh was after all his son', hinting that he would campaign for the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. His statement had come after Akhilesh had confidently quipped that the Patriarch would campaign for the alliance.

Mulayam's statement to campaign for Shivpal before Akhilesh came as a measure to show his support to his brother and dissuade him from floating another party.

OneIndia News