SP feud: Drama continues as Mulayam skips election manifesto event

Lucknow: The political drama in the first family of Uttar Pradesh refused to die down as Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh was missing at the event where the party released its election manifesto for the high-voltage assembly polls on Sunday.

According to sources, senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan visited Mulayam at his residence here and tried to pacify him to attend the event.

Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav had also called up Mulayam to inquire about the same.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh had earlier on Friday announced candidates for 209 constituencies, which will vote in the first two phases of the assembly polls.

Mulayam on Monday accused Akhilesh of having overlooked the welfare of Muslims and asserted that he would fight against his son if Akhilesh did not heed to his advice.

Addressing party workers at the party headquarters, Mulayam said, "I have always advocated the interest of Muslims. When I ensured the appointment of a Muslim as the State's Director General of Police (DGP), Akhilesh did not talk to me for 15 days. He did not want any Muslim in this post. It sent out an anti-Muslim message," he claimed.

Uttar Pradesh will vote in seven phases beginning February 11 and results will be announced on March 11.