UP not interested in 'family drama' of Yadavs: Naqvi

Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday ridiculed the ongoing family hysteria in the Samajwadi Party and said that neither the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nor the people of Uttar Pradesh are interested in the family problems of the Yadavs.

Expressing confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would form the government in Uttar Pradesh, Naqvi said the people of the state want development and so does the saffron party.

"I don't know which side will win this battle but one thing is for sure that the people of Uttar Pradesh are on the losing side as amid all this turmoil they are being sidelined. The people of Uttar Pradesh gave a mandate for development but nothing happened. In the past five years, they did nothing and the ungraceful manner in which they are exiting is extremely unfortunate," said Naqvi.

"The people of Uttar Pradesh are not interested in this family drama, they want development. And with the idea of development the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will form the government," he added.

A day after party supremo Mulayam Yadav asserted that all was well within the party, Samajwadi Party leader Pawan Pandey was earlier today expelled from the party over his alleged clash with MLC Ashu Malik.

Announcing the decision, sacked Cabinet member Shivpal Yadav said, "We have written a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister to sack Pawan Pandey of the ministerial position over clash with MLC Ashu Malik."

According to reports, MLC Ashu Malik had earlier on Monday alleged that he was slapped by Pandey at Akhilesh's residence.

Pandey's sacking will further escalate the ongoing tension in the Samajwadi Party, which has been facing an internal crisis since Akhilesh Yadav sacked Shivpal from his Cabinet.