SP not projecting anyone as CM candidate, says Mulayam

Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav told mediapersons in New Delhi on Wednesday that his party has not taken any decision about projecting someone as the chief ministerial candidate in the forthcoming elections of the UP assembly.

"I am confident that Samajvadi Party will win the state assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh to be held early next year. The elected MLAs will choose their leader who will head the government. We are not projecting anyone as the chief minister," he said.

He was responding to a question whether SP has decided to project senior leader Azam Khan as the potential CM candidate. Many leaders feel that projecting Khan will help the party in consolidating the Muslim votes.

Mulayam Singh, who recently suspended some officials of the Aligarh unit of his party who took out a demonstration against visiting Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, expressed his anguish to the senior Congress leaders for trying to break his party.

"I told them that we are allies of the Congress party and hence we expect that they would not do anything to break our party," he said.

He was referring to defection of a senior leader of Samajvadi Party to Congress, thereby weakening its strong hold on Western UP.

He did not agree with UP CM and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayavati that breaking the state into four smaller states would help in providing good administration. "I am against division of UP. It is not interest of the nation," he said.

He also made it clear that though his party was in favour of a strong Lokpal, he has no intention of sharing the poll dias with Anna Hazare when the latter visits Uttar Pradesh during the assembly polls. "

Netaji, as he is known in his party circle, referred to black money as 'chori ka dhan'. He also ruled out re-induction of former SP general secretary Amar Singh to the party fold.