Akhilesh visits, Mulayam blesses

Lucknow: The first thing that Akhilesh Yadav did after hearing the Election Commission's verdict this evening was visit his father Mulayam Singh Yadav's home and touch his feet. When the Uttar Pradesh chief minister returned to his official residence around 25 minutes later, he told his jubilant supporters he would contest the coming Assembly elections "on the face of Netaji (Mulayam)". Sunil Yadav, an Akhilesh aide and MLC, said as much when asked what message the chief minister had for his supporters after his meeting with his father, with whom he had apparently been competing for control over the Samajwadi Party. "We are getting ready to contest the Assembly polls under the leadership of Netaji. Our poll issue is development and Akhilesh is our vikas purush (development man)," Yadav said. Mulayam's younger brother Shivpal Yadav, with whom Akhilesh has been locked in a tussle for months, was in Mulayam's house when the chief minister's cavalcade stopped outside. He left silently when Akhilesh entered. Sources close to Mulayam claimed there was no sign of anxiety on the veteran's face when he heard the poll panel's order, which authenticated the Samajwadi's disputed January 1 convention that had replaced Mulayam with Akhilesh as the party's national chief. "He was smiling when Akhilesh entered his room and touched his feet," a source said. The source said Mulayam blessed Akhilesh, saying: "I have been with you in every situation. I made you CM. Go and start campaigning for the party." Akhilesh, according to the source, replied: "I am again saying that I'll gift you the victory of the SP in the Assembly elections and leave every decision on you thereafter." The commission's verdict, which recognised the faction headed by Akhilesh as the Samajwadi Party and allotted it the reserved bicycle symbol, came hours after Mulayam had told a meeting with his supporters that he might move court if his son continued to disobey him. But journalists at the meeting were in for a surprise too - a key Akhilesh aide, Naresh Uttam, sat beside Mulayam. A strategically placed brand new nameplate also left open scope for interpretations. After the meeting, Uttam's aides had put up the nameplate proclaiming Akhilesh as party chief just below his father's nameplate. The source close to Mulayam said RJD chief Lalu Prasad called up Mulayam when Akhilesh was still with his father. "He asked Netaji to forget the past and stand by Akhilesh to defeat the communal forces," the source said. Lalu Prasad's daughter Raj Laxmi is married to Mulayam's great-nephew Tej Pratap Yadav. Another man also wanted to speak to Mulayam - his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav, Akhilesh's chief adviser. Mulayam didn't respond when he was told Ram Gopal had called on the landline.