It is immaterial who campaigns, who doesn't, says Ram Gopal on Mulayam's stand

Countering cousin Mulayam Singh Yadav's disapproval of the Samajwadi Party- Congress alliance ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Ram Gopal Yadav on Tuesday said it is immaterial on who campaign for whom and who doesn't.

"Akhilesh Yadav is the national president of Samajwadi Party and Rahul Gandhi is the vice-president of the Congress party. The alliance has clicked and we are confident of winning 300 seats. Who campaigns and who doesn't is immaterial," he said.

Earlier on January 29, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav in their maiden outing in Lucknow shared tight hugs and warm handshake besides donning same coloured jackets.

Gandhi dominated the interaction comparing the alliance between the Samajwadi Party and Congress with the confluence of the rivers of Ganga and Yamuna that join at 'sangam' to form the river Saraswati.

Declaring that their combined objective was to "defeat the fascist forces," respond to "politics of hate" and counter divisive ideology, the two leaders said that the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance would usher in a "storm of development".

Both leaders resorted to symbolism to drive home their point.

Gandhi said he shared both a "personal and political relationship" with Akhilesh and their coming together was akin to the "meeting of the Ganga and Yamuna at the Sangam."

Akhilesh, in turn, pronounced that they were "two wheels of the cycle."

The leaders also released the joint campaign slogan 'UP koh yeh saath pasand hai' (UP relishes this alliance). Uttar Pradesh will be voting for a new state assembly in a seven-phase election between February 11 and March 8.

Out of the 403 assembly seats, the Congress will be contesting in 105 seats and the Samajwadi Party will field its candidates in rest of the 298 seats.