Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav created a stir in political circles by claiming that he faced a tough time and a lot of flak from people for making Akhilesh Yadav the chief minister of the state.
"I courted big trouble for myself by deciding to make Akhilesh the chief minister. The two weeks after Akhilesh took oath of office were very turbulent days for me as people wondered how could I install my son as the chief minister as they had voted for me and the party. I cannot share with you how I faced that situation'', said Mulayam Singh Yadav while addressing the students of the UP Rural Institute of Medical Sciences (UPRIMS) at Saifai in Etawah district on Wednesday.
"I had to do a lot of explaining to the leaders and the party cadres as they taunted me for chosing my son for the office of the chief minister. I was able to convince these people with much effort'', said the SPchief.
He however added that "had I had taken over as the chief minister, I would have become inaccessible to you''.
Mulayam Singh also said, "Those who questioned my wisdom for choosing Akhilesh for the office of the chief minister later praised my decision and vindicated my decision''.
Mulayam Singh Yadav also expressed his pain for failing to become the prime minister of India. He then consoled himself saying that he would have become inaccessible to the people after occupying the high office.
"I served as the chief minister of UP three times and later as the Defence Minister of India but I missed the chance to be the prime minister of India'', said Mulayam Singh Yadav.
lashing out at his political opponents for maligning him, the SP chief said, "I started my public life from the socialist movement under the leadership of great socialist leader Ram Manohar lohia, but my opponents linked me to the dacoits''.
"My name was linked with the dacoits like Madho Singh and Phoolan Devi. I wish to thank the great leader Jai Prakash Narain who arranged the surrender of the dacoits of the Chambal valley and to a large extent eradicatred to problem of the dacoits in Chambal''.
SP chief said that Nirbhay Gujjar was the only dacoit who was once active in Chambal valley was a native of Etawah, rest of the dacoits were from other areas who took regfuge in the ravines of the Chambal.
Tracing the history of the UPRIMS which was set up during the previous SP regime in 2005, Mulayam singh said, "lots of people approached me asking me to recommend the case of their wards for admission to medical colleges in Karnataka, them I decided that UP should have its own medical college with facilities of the global standards''.
SP chief said, "I wish that there should be at least 40 medical colleges in the state so that the students from the poor and rural background could also dream of pursuing degree in medical education''.
He added, "So far 22 medical colleges have been set up in the state and two are under construction''.