Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has revealed why he joined hands with the Congress party to enter the poll fray in the state.
According to a report in a leading English daily, Akhilesh, also the national president of Samajwadi Party, has said that the deal with the Congress was an outcome of the infighting in the first family of state.
He, however, choose to maintain that the alliance also increased the ‘prospects’ of a regional party retaining the power.
“If these things (family matters) had not cropped up and some political decisions didn’t have to be taken, then this alliance may not have happened. The time and circumstances were such that we had to have this alliance,” Akhilesh told The Hindu.
Akhilesh said that he enjoyed a ‘good chemistry’ with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and was ‘happy that the two parties are contesting the polls together’.
Akhilesh also rejected reports of an acrimonious relationship between SP and Congress. The CM said that he and Rahul are of the same age and that they share similar opinions on various of issues.
“The workers stand united with the party and that there is no difference of opinion,” he added.
The alliance, he further said, wants the ‘state and the nation to progress’.
“Sometimes you just build a friendship. Some say that after a certain age, friendships happen according to needs. We are the same age, we think alike. He (Rahul) too wants the country and the State to develop,” Akhilesh said.
Justifying the alliance between the two parties, he said , “
To a question related to the SP’s tradition of opposing the Congress, he said, “The times demanded political formations that can protect the secular fabric of the country and take on communal parties like the BJP. There was a time when the Congress was the only ruling party and so it was natural to oppose it.”
“All Samajwadi leaders are products of the Congress party,” he added quickly.
While the Congress party is contesting 105 seats, the ruling SP has fielded candidates on remaining 298 constituencies. However, there are at least a dozen seats where the both parties have fielded their candidates.
