Akhilesh-Mulayam patch up fails; opinion poll shows SP ahead of rivals

Mayawati appeals to Muslims to not waste vote on SP

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today reached out to his father and Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, but sources close to him said a rapproachment was possible only on Akhilesh’s terms, which include Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh be sacked from the party, that his list of candidates is accepted and his uncle Shivpal Yadav shifted to Delhi.

Meanwhile, SP’s principal rival, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati released her party’s list of 403 candidates for the upcoming assembly polls, and appealed to Muslims, which comprise nearly a fifth of UP’s electorate, to not waste their vote on the SP.

In Delhi, a top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader claimed the crowd at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public rally in Lucknow indicated that his party would return to the seat of power in Lucknow after 14 years. He also claimed that Muslim votes would split between BSP and SP. But an opinion poll by television channel ABP News today said that Akhilesh remained the most popular leader in UP, more popular than even the PM.

Today, Akhilesh met his father Mulayam at his residence. The meeting lasted three hours but the Akhilesh camp rejected the compromise formula. It stuck to its demands that Akhilesh’s list of 403 candidates be accepted, Shivpal be out of UP affairs of the party and Amar Singh sacked from the party. Sources in the Akhilesh camp said it was “too late” for any patch up. Shivpal also joined the meeting.

In the morning, Rajya Sabha member Ram Gopal Yadav, the leading light of the Akhilesh camp, along with other leaders told the Election Commission that the party was headed by Akhilesh and had the right over the ‘bicycle’ election symbol. On Monday, Mulayam had approached the EC to lay claim on the election symbol. The EC, if the warring factions don’t reach a truce, could freeze the symbol and ask them to contest the elections on other symbols. The Akhilesh camp could take ‘motorcycle’ as its new election symbol.

In a press conference in Lucknow, BSP chief Mayawati called note ban as the “darkest chapter” in independent India’s history. She said Modi’s speech on Monday betrayed his acceptance of defeat. Giving caste-wise details, she said that of the 403 seats, "85 are reserved for the SCs and 87 tickets have been given to dalits, 97 to Muslims, 106 to OBCs, 113 to upper castes (66 to Brahmins, 36 to Kshatriyas and 11 to Kayasthas, Vaishyas, Punjabis)." Mayawati ruled out any alliance in the coming polls.

The ABP News opinion poll, conducted across 65 assembly constituencies of UP from December 6 to December 16, found that SP could win 141-151 seats, BJP 129-139 seats, BSP 93-103 seats and Congress 13-19 seats. It said SP would get a vote share of 30%, followed by BJP’s 27%.