Mulayam to campaign first for brother Shivpal, not Akhilesh

In a new turn of events, Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has said that he will start campaigning for his brother Shivpal Yadav on February 9 and then for son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

"I will start my campaigning from Jaswantnagar on February 9 for Shivpal. I will campaign for Akhilesh later," Mulayam said.

In a shock move, Shivpal earlier on January 31 announced that he would form a new political party after March 11, the day election results of five states would be declared.

Shivpal, who filed his nomination papers on the Samajwadi Party's ticket from Jaswantnagar, said that he would be campaigning for those denied tickets by Akhilesh.

Shivpal also highlighted the work done by his ministry. "We ran the government for five years, was my ministry's performance inferior to others," he said.

Mulayam earlier on January 30 announced that he would not campaign for the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance in the run up to the state assembly polls.

Mulayam claimed that Samajwadi Party could win the elections on its own.

However, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister took a 180-degree turn and said that he would campaign for Akhilesh from February 9.

With Akhilesh 'my son after all' remark, Mulayam stated that he would not just campaign for his Samajwadi Party, but also the Congress.

Voting in Uttar Pradesh will be done in seven phases - February 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, March 4 and 8. The counting of votes will take place on March 11.