Mulayam keeps options open, says UP CM candidate will be decided after polls

Lucknow: Clearly indicating that all was not well within his party fold, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday said that the chief ministerial candidate would be decided after the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

Addressing the media in Lucknow, Yadav said that the Chief Minister would be decided by the elected legislators and the parliamentary board after the assembly polls.

"There has never been any dispute in the family since three generations and the situation remains the same. The people still have immense faith in the Samajwadi Party," he said.

Talking about the Samajwadi Party's achievements, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said that they have formed the government four times in the last 25 years.

He also expressed confidence that the Samajwadi Party would emerge victorious in the polls with a thumping majority.

Yadav further said that his party would officially kick-start its election campaign on November 5, the 25th anniversary of the Samajwadi Party's formation.

The Samajwadi Party president's assertion comes at a time when there is growing friction within his party fold following the fallout between his son and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, and his brother Shivpal Yadav.

Akhilesh has often been on collision course with his uncle Shivpal over selection of candidates, approach to elections and alliances.

The feud had spilled into the open after Akhilesh stripped Shivpal of key ministerial portfolios on September 13, hours after Mulayam replaced him with his uncle as the party's state unit chief.

Moreover, the merger of the Quami Ekta Dal (QED) with the Samajwadi Party which had Shivpal's backing did not go well with Akhilesh.