24 June,2016 07:48 AM IST | | Agencies
The Uttar Pradesh chief minister said his 'displeasure' over the matter is a 'media invention'
Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party's embrace of the party of mafia don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari is an "internal matter" and his "displeasure" over the merger is a "media invention," Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said yesterday.
Akhilesh Yadav File Pic
Media responsible
Seeking to downplay the rift in the party over the issue, Akhilesh Yadav suggested in reply to a query that the media was responsible for the perception that there are differences in his family over the merger with Ansari's Quami Ekta Dal. The Yadav family practically controls the Samajwadi Party (SP).
Mum on Balram
He, however, evaded questions from reporters on the sacking of Secondary Education Minister Balram Yadav, who was shown the door soon after SP-Quami Ekta Dal merger was announced.
Balram Yadav, an old colleague of SP chief and Akhilesh's father Mulayam Singh Yadav, has so far maintained studied silence on the matter and said that he was dedicated to the party. Mukhtar Ansari founded the Quami Ekta Dal in 2010.
The mafia don is in jail for his alleged involvement in the murder of BJP legislator Krishnanand Rai.
