Akhilesh says 'all is well' after Mulayam skips Samajwadi Party manifesto release, posts photo with father on Facebook

Lucknow: Trying to make up for his father and party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav's absence during the release of the Samajwadi Party manifesto yesterday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said that all is well in a Facebook post.

The post from the UP CM came hours after SP veteran Mulayam skipped the event, signalling the strained ties between the father and the son.

Akhilesh had posted a photo last night in which he could be seen posing with his wife Dimple Yadav, with Mulayam Singh sitting in the centre and holding copies of the manifesto.

SP's Muslim face and minister Azam Khan, who has been mediator between the warring Yadavs, is also seen with them in the photo.

Khan had earlier tried in vain to persuade Mulayam Singh to join his son on the stage.

Soon after releasing the manifesto, the Chief Minister and his wife Dimple left the party office, but had to rush back to meet father Mulayam Singh who arrived after the event. The two met for over 40 minutes and were later seen walking out of the office together.
 
Sources even said that Mulayam also intended to call a press conference but stopped short of doing so just at the time the Samajwadi Party was announcing its alliance with the Congress.

On January 16, Akhilesh Yadav won a battle with his father for control of the Samajwadi Party as the Election Commission ruled that the 43-year-old had more supporters in the party and had the right to use its name and "cycle" symbol in the February-March polls if the party were to split.

Since that verdict, there have been internal meetings between father and son but they have never appeared in public together. In those meetings, Mulayam Singh also handed over his wish-list of candidates that included his younger brother and closest aide Shivpal Yadav, said to be the main cause of estrangement between father and son.

Shivpal Yadav and others recommended by Mulayam Singh did make it to the list of candidates. But in a clear reflection of who controls the party, a nameplate that earlier declared both Mulayam Singh and Akhilesh Yadav as party presidents has now been replaced with one that describes the 77-year-old Samajwadi founder as "mentor".