Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav during a road show in support of the party candidate Abhishek Mishra in Lucknow on Monday.
The Congress has, in some of its most challenging moments, been rescued by
Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party. Today, Mr Yadav's young son, Akhilesh, provided a new rendition of that relationship.
He alleged that the opposition BJP is vastly exaggerating the claims that rules were bent to ensure windfall gain to Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. (
BJP's sharpest attack ever on Robert Vadra)
"BJP is unnecessarily blowing the land issue out of proportion. This is not a big thing. Which party does not give land to companies to set up project for the development of the area when it comes to power?" asked Akhilesh, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. (
Full Coverage: India Votes 2014)
He was careful not to mention Mr Vadra by name, but his comments come a day after the BJP released a video that attacks the Gandhis and the Congress for Mr Vadra's allegedly irregular real estate details in Haryana, where the Congress is in power.
In response, Mrs Gandhi's daughter, Priyanka, said the BJP was exhibiting the behavior of a "pack of rats" scrambling in desperation to taint her family. (
Priyanka Gandhi hits back at BJP, says party scrambling like rats)
Priyanka is not contesting the national election; she is managing the campaigns for her mother and older brother, Rahul, who is leading the Congress attempt for a third successive term in power. Opinion polls predict a dismal performance for the party.
The Samajwadi Party is not a member of the incumbent Congress-led government at the centre, but the external support it supplied served as crucial scaffolding for the Congress, helping it push through key legislation.
The Samajwadi Party, has, as a "gesture of courtesy" not fielded candidates against Rahul and Sonia Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh.