Saifai (Uttar Pradesh):
It's a big day for the Samajwadi Party (SP). As the state votes in the fifth phase of Assembly elections, with several Yadav heartlands like Etawah and Mainpuri going to polls, SP is hoping to make big gains.
The party's sentiments were echoed by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's son Akhilesh Yadav. "Our full family is in politics, and they are working for the party. We hope to get a majority," Akhilesh told NDTV in Saifai.
At the same time, the SP leader also made it clear that if his party wins the elections, his father and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav will be the Chief Minister and not him.
He also dismissed the fact that the Congress' aggressive campaigning and Rahul Gandhi's visit to SP strongholds will be an embarrassment for the party. "It's a democracy, anyone can go anywhere. There's no message in that. I went to Allahabad, I went to Varanasi, what's the big deal in that?" Akhilesh said.
I agree that people have made this constituency what it is; they have made this a SP stronghold, he added.