UP polls: Akhilesh Yadav meets aides after Mulayam Singh denies tickets to his loyalists

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday held parleys with his close aides and ministers at his official residence in Lucknow, after Samjawadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav announced candidates for 325 of the 403 UP Assembly seats, ignoring his son's objections to certain names, reports said.

Akhilesh had forwarded a list of 403 names for the upcoming elections to Mulayam. Shivpal had then responded by saying that the names of 175 candidates have already been finalised and “no one” should break party discipline.

Many of Akhilesh's aides, such as Pawan Pandey, Ram Govind Chaudhary, Rakesh Singh and few others have not featured in the list.

Reports further said that Akhilesh, who is not in good terms with his uncle Shivpal, met the leaders at his official residence to chalk out their further strategy.

During the press conference, Mulayam also ruled out any alliance with any party for the upcoming polls.

At a hurriedly convened press conference here, the SP patriarch released the list of 325 candidates, giving poll tickets to 176 sitting MLAs.

Names of candidates for the rest of the 78 seats would be announced soon, he said, flanked by state party chief Shivpal Yadav, while Chief Minister Akhilesh was away on a tour.

What is likely to trigger a fresh round of feud in the party is the fact that 53 sitting legislators have been denied tickets. They include senior minister and close Akhilesh Yadav aide Arvind Singh 'Gop', whose ticket has been given to Rakesh Verma, son of senior party leader Beni Prasad Verma.

Surprisingly, the list carries names of Sigbatullah Ansari, who is the brother of jailed gangster Mukhtar Ansari, and Atiq Ahmed who faces over 40 criminal cases, including those dealing with murder and attempt to murder allegations.

Akhilesh, who is believed to be opposed to their nominations, had reportedly asked his father to intervene.

Another name which had upset Akhilesh, Aman Mani Tripathi who is arrested by the CBI in a case related to the killing of his wife, however, did not figure in today's list.