‘FAMILY FEUD LED TO DEBACLE’

LUCKNOW: SP president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said the manner in which television channels played out the Yadav family feud contributed to the party’s debacle in assembly elections. The former CM, who faced some tough questions from media persons during an interaction, acknowledged that the internal rift in the family ahead of UP polls was ‘one of the reasons’ for the party’s defeat.

Rubbishing queries on his relinquishing the post of party chief to make way for his father and SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, he said: “Those who are asking these questions have neither read the constitution of the party nor of the Election Commission.”

Asked about forging an alliance of opposition parties in the wake of forthcoming Presidential election, Yadav said his immediate priority was to strengthen the party organisation. On the choice of candidate for Presidential election, he said, ”I am not going to reveal our strategy now. We will convey our decision when others take a call on it.” “Nobody can question the efficacy of ‘Dial 100’ quick police response system introduced by SP government or find fault in the free laptop distribution scheme,” he said.

‘TIME FOR AKHILESH TO INTROSPECT’

State health minister Siddharth Nath Singh on Wednesday said despite being a youth leader, Akhilesh was frustrated and was seeing things through ‘bhagwa’ (saffron) specs.

“Akhilesh should do some introspection as to why the people who brought him to power with so much fanfare voted him out,” he told media .