An alliance between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress is possible under which Mulayam Singh Yadav is the Prime Minister and Rahul Gandhi Deputy Prime Minster, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav suggested on Friday but the Opposition party debunked it saying no tie-up is being planned “as of now”.
Akhilesh made the comments in the course of a conversation at the Hindustan Times leadership Summit in the presence of the Congress vice-president. However, Rahul, who was seen smiling, refused to comment when asked to respond.
The UP Chief Minister was replying to a question on whether he was ready to extend his “good” personal relationship with Rahul to a political level with the Congress.
“You are asking me because I am a Samajwadi (socialist) and you also say that I get rebuked by my father (Mulayam). I also want that Netaji’s dreams are fulfilled, and I will work for him. He becomes the Prime Minister and he (pointing at Rahul) Deputy Prime Minister. I am in agreement with this (idea) and will form an alliance now,” Akhilesh said.
However the Congress rejected possibility of a tie-up. “As of now, the Indian National Congress has no intention of tying up or having any understanding with the Samajwadi Party so the subsequent question does not arise,” party spokesperson Sushmita Dev said.
Akhilesh parried a question on whether an alliance with its rival, the BSP, like the one in Bihar where the JD(U) and the RJD came together, is possible in UP for the 2017 Assembly polls.
“She (Mayawati) is obsessed with elephant statues, she wants more of it. How is that possibleIJ I have already told you my formula,” was Akhilesh’s response, referring to his conditions for a possible alliance with the Congress.
Earlier, he categorically said, “There is no talk of any coalition at this point. It’s better if we don’t talk of it now.” The 42-year-old UP Chief Minister asserted that any relationship with the BJP or any of its associate organisations was not possible “because of the kind of divisions they produce and the language they use.”
Asked about the “inefficiency” of the State’s law and order machinery in preventing the Dadri lynching, Akhilesh said it was because of the Government’s efforts that the “situation did not go out of control the way a section wanted”.
He also defended the police machinery saying it reached on time on being informed about the incident. “No one said police reached late. In fact the police took the victims to the hospital.”
“People who were showing achchhe din have gone to love jehad. Who will decide ones diet or what one wears or saysIJ” he said.
Replying to a question on “homosexuality”, he said, “A section takes it positively, while others regard it to be bad.”
On his relationship with his father and former Chief Minister Mulayam, who has publicly reprimanded him in the past, he said, “How can you hold any grudges against your fatherIJ”
He evaded queries on SP’s relationship with former party leader Amar Singh and firebrand minister Azam Khan, whose recent remarks on the Paris attacks had kicked up a row.
“One is Uncle (Singh) and the other chacha (Khan). And uncle’s relationship with Netaji shall remain the same,” Akhilesh said, when asked about Singh’s possible return to the SP’s fold.