'Cycle' belongs to Netaji, his blessings with us: Akhilesh Yadav

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said that the Samajwadi Party's election symbol 'cycle' belongs to "Netaji" (Mulayam Singh Yadav), and that his blessings are with his son.

"The father-son relation exists as before and nothing can change that. Netaji is above all of us in the party. The responsibility to take Samajwadi Party forward rests now with the new generation," he said while speaking at the Chunav Manch conclave organised by India TV here.

"Samajwadi Party still belongs to him. The 'cycle' belongs to him. The relationship is intact, father-son relationship can never change. It was necessary to distance ourselves from people who wanted to harm the party," he said of the infighting.

Asked whether his father Mulayam Singh will campaign for the alliance, he said: "His (Netaji) blessings are with us. Netaji will be the most happiest person if SP wins. I am sure, our party's thumping victory will only increase his stature."

Akhilesh said he is confident of the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance winning more than 300 seats in the assembly elections this time.

"This alliance will prove beneficial to both parties. Our alliance is going to win more than 300 seats. All the opposition parties are now targeting our alliance for the last 2-3 days. They have now started fearing that the two young leaders (Akhilesh and Rahul) who have come together may form the government," he said.

Asked whether he would like to be projected as Prime Ministerial candidate in 2019, Akhilesh replied: "I want to emphatically state here that I have no ambition to become Prime Minister. People who stay away from Delhi are happier. But yes, even Congressmen have asked me who will be the PM candidate in 2019, and I have told them, first let's win this election, and then see which turn politics will take. Nobody can predict."

Asked about his government's achievements in the last five years, Akhilesh said that as many as 55 lakh women are getting Samajwadi Pension, 18 lakh laptops were distributed, MBBS seats doubled, helpline services like 108, 100, 109 have started, and "there are many more schemes like Kanya Vidya Dhan Yojana which have directly touched the poor".

--IANS

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