Mulayam-Akhilesh spat: Is the father-son duo kissing and making up?

Shivpal doesn't feature in Mulayam's must-have list; son says dad still calls the shots

In what appears to be an attempt to compromise by both factions of the Samajwadi Party, Mulayam Singh Yadav has submitted a list of 38 candidates to Akhilesh Yadav, whom he asserts cannot be excluded from the upcoming UP assembly polls.

According to an NDTV report, Shivpal Singh Yadav, Mulayam's brother and close confidante, who Akhilesh sees as a thorn in the flesh, does not feature in the list.

However, while Shivpal is excluded, his son, Aditya Yadav's name has been included along with those of several other Samajwadi leaders and ministers seen as Mulayam loyalists and earlier rejected by the UP chief minister.

Mulayam has apparently urged Akhilesh Yadav to accept the roster in case he wants his support, reports said.

Meanwhile, Akhilesh has been doing his bit to ensure that the party remains intact. The UP chief minister met his father twice during the past 12 hours after being awarded the cycle symbol by the Election Commission.

According to a another report, Akhilesh virtually asserted that Mulayam still called the shots in, and remained the face of, the party. After his meeting Mulayam Singh with on Tuesday morning, Akhilesh was reported to have said, "The relation with my father can never be broken, I never had differences with him, in fact 90 per cent of the candidates in our lists are the same."

When asked about the alliance with Congress, Akhilesh added, "Please wait for some time. Now, we have a responsibility to form the government in the state for the second time."