Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav’s support for Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha was met with more opposition, this time from within the Yadav family itself. Senior leader Shivpal Yadav on Monday claimed that staunch supporters of the party would not have voted for the Opposition candidate, referring to the “ISI agent” jab that had been directed at party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.
“How could a staunch SP worker vote for somebody who once called Netaji an ISI agent? Those who consider Netaji as their ideal would not vote for the Opposition candidate,” said Mr. Yadav, citing an old newspaper report that had Mr. Sinha calling Mr. Mulayalam Singh an agent of the Pakistani spy agency ISI. Mr. Sinha had been a senior minister in the NDA government then.
Revealing that neither his advice nor that of his brother Mr. Mulayam Singh was sought while deciding on rendering support for Mr. Sinha, Mr. Yadav opined that the party whip should not apply for the election of the highest constitutional post in the country. Speaking to reporters after casting his vote in Lucknow, the Jaswantnagar MLA said he had made an appeal to voters to listen to their inner conscience while casting their ballot to elect the next President.
