‘No camps in SP, only different war rooms’

NEW DELHI: Ahead of his campaign trail on his ‘Samajwadi Party Vikas Rath Yatra’, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav seems unperturbed by the recent feud in the family. In an interview to M Tariq Khan and Gulam Jeelani, the 43-year-old says that alliance or no alliance, people are going to vote him back to power. Excerpts from the interview:

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Mulayam Singh Yadav met Prashant Kishor in New Delhi. So, will we see a ‘mahagathbandhan’ this time in UP?

‘Netaji’ knows about it and he will decide. But before taking a decision, he will take our feedback. I am sure people will give us another chance ...

Does it feel like going to appear for an exam? So are you going solo now? There are no camps in the party, just different wars rooms which are all working towards just one common goal. And that is why we have called it ‘Samajwadi Party Vikas Rath Yatra’.

How would this ‘yatra’ be different? Any specific reason you chose to start from Unnao? ‘Yatras’ I find are the best way to tell people about the work you have done. There are some projects in Shuklaganj, which I would be inaugurating, so that is why I have chosen Unnao. We have constructed a four-lane road with a cycle track there. As many as 70,000 labourers use cycles for work... The next leg will start after November 10. And on

November

14, I will start the yatra from

Jhansi and it will be continue for four days ...