Senior Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav said on Saturday that if his party attained a majority in the Assembly polls, then Akhilesh Yadav will be proposed as the Chief Minister.
However with a touch of hurt, Shivpal also said, "Despite hard work and dedicated service to the party, deserving people failed to achieve desired posts in the Government while others got to the top on account of their lineage.’’
Yadav was in Etawah in connection with the muhurat of feature film Babri Masjid – A love story.
The senior SP leader added, "I have no regrets for failing to get the top job in the Government. I have a passion for serving the people and I will continue to do so. Thousands of people come to meet me daily and their grievances are redressed."
Reiterating that there was no dispute either in the party or in the SP's first family, Shvipal Yadav said, “The media has blown minor intra-party issues out of proportion. There is no problem anywhere in the Government or the party. If at all there are some, those issues will be sorted out.’’
Responding to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's comment that he would campaign for the Assembly polls on his own without waiting for anyone, Shvipal said, “No single leader can shoulder the responsibility of campaigning for Assembly polls in a big State like UP.’’
“Samajwadi Party is now a very big party. Every leader will work for the election as per the responsibility assigned by the party brass,’’ he added.
Earlier, on Friday, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had created a political storm by declaring that Akhilesh Yadav will not be the CM candidate of the party for 2017 Assembly polls and that the party will decide as to who will be the next CM after the elections.
Meanwhile, the ruling SP has started preparating for branding Shivpal Yadav as a tall leader of the party. On Friday, the Ramlila Committee of Jaswant Nagar township of Etawah launched a promotional song eulogising Shivpal's personality for using it during election campaign. Jaswant Nagar happens to be the Assembly constituency of Shivpal Yadav.